Oliver Glasner, the coach of Crystal Palace, spoke candidly after losing to Manchester United in the English Premier League's latest match.
Oliver Glasner, manager of the "Eagles" Crystal Palace, criticized Manchester United sharply, saying they did not deserve the penalty after their 2-1 victory over his team in the Premier League last night, implying the decision might have been influenced by the "Old Trafford bonus."
In the match, Crystal Palace started strongly, taking the lead 1-0 as early as the 4th minute through Lacroix. However, the turning point came in the second half at the 56th minute when Lacroix received a red card for fouling Matheus Cunha, resulting in a penalty for Manchester United. Bruno Fernandes scored the penalty to equalize 1-1, and Benjamin Sesko netted the winning goal for Manchester United at the 65th minute.
After the game, Glasner felt Manchester United’s equalizing goal should not have been awarded a penalty because he believed Cunha was pulled outside the penalty area by Lacroix but cunningly took himself down inside the box.
Glasner said, "The red card completely changed the game. Awarding the penalty and the red card was a very harsh decision because the foul began outside the penalty area, and normally the free kick should be given at the spot where the foul started."
"Matheus Cunha was very smart to wait until he was inside the penalty area before falling down."
"I spoke with the fourth official. They had to check for offside, the foul itself, where it began, and whether a red card was warranted. Since there were multiple situations to consider, it took time. But it didn’t make me feel any better because I believe the decision was wrong. Still, we have to accept it."
"It shouldn’t have been a penalty. Maybe Lacroix deserved a red card for fouling outside the box—that’s the real issue to debate. But maybe this is a bit of an "Old Trafford bonus.""