Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay could consider himself lucky not to have picked up a red card during his club’s last match.
The Red Devils got their new Premier League campaign off to a pretty dismal start as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion over the weekend.
However, things could have been even worse for United had VAR opted to punish McTominay for a horror tackle made on the Seagulls’ Moises Caicedo.
Indeed, an image shared online shows the midfielder clearly leaving a high foot in on the ankle of Brighton’s number 25. This is also backed up by footage shared on Twitter which shows McTominay losing the ball before then clattering in to make a shocking foul.
Did Scott McTominay deserve a red for the foul?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Scott McTominay and Manchester United…
Considering the scores were tied at 0-0 at the time of the tackle, things could have been a whole lot worse for Manchester United had the Scotland international been sent off – though he escaped with just a booking.
Even so, they did go on to lose the game, but will at least have him available for their upcoming games when he could easily have been missing due to suspension.
In a recent article for Sportsmail, former player Chris Sutton has also argued that the player deserved a red, calling it a ‘naughty’ tackle, explaining that the 25-year-old was not in control.
For better or worse, McTominay is a regular in this United team – playing over 30 Premier League games in the past two seasons – and so Erik ten Hag will likely be glad to have his midfielder available for next weekend.
Taking it all into account, even though the Red Devils still managed to lose the game, they can still consider themselves lucky to have been handed this let-off by VAR.