Following Manchester United’s victory over Ligue 1 team Lyon at Old Trafford on Thursday night, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg wants a VAR rule altered. This was one of the best comebacks in Manchester United’s history.
During the first forty-five minutes, Ruben Amorim’s team was cruising and two goals ahead. However, that all changed as Lyon pulled back four goals. Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette scored in extra time after two goals in ordinary time.
However, after Bruno Fernandes’ goal, the Red Devils had the Old Trafford crowd cheering for their head coach, much like in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson. Harry Maguire then took over after Kobbie Mainoo cutely directed his attempt into the bottom corner.
The centre-back, who was used as an auxiliary centre forward, outperformed the others and seized Casemiro’s accurate pass to win the second leg 5–4, advancing Amorim’s team to the Europa League semifinals against Athletic Club.
However, there was some controversy surrounding the nine-goal thriller after Lyon captain Corentin Tolisso was sent off in the 89th minute. After the Frenchman appeared to trip Leny Yoro up from behind, referee Sandro Scharer gave him a second yellow card.
Tolisso, who played for Bayern Munich from 2017 to 2022, had very little contact with his countryman right before the end of the 90 minutes, according to replays of the incident. Clattenburg has called for a modification to VAR’s regulations.
The former Premier League official, who listed Roy Keane as one of the top five players he officiated, has asked that the rules be changed to allow VAR to override second yellow cards, which isn’t the case at the moment. He stated in an exclusive interview with United in Focus:
“The decision to red card [Corentin] Tolisso is absurd. Since there was a covering defender who could have played the ball with ease, the player in this instance was not given a yellow card for thwarting a promising attack.
From a different perspective, I doubt there was enough contact to call a foul. Manchester United has so been fortunate in this choice,” Clattenburg emphasised. “Unfortunately, VAR cannot stop a second yellow card, but it will argue why not when the decision is obviously incorrect.”
Rio Ferdinand, a TNT Sports analyst, supported Clattenburg because he said Tolisso should consider himself unlucky after Scharer was sent off before one of the most bizarre extra-time periods ever. He stated:
Additionally, I believe that to be cruel. It’s not intentional.
Amorim and his team will only be thinking about winning Europe’s secondary competition going forward. In other news, Paulo Fonseca’s team is aiming for a spot in the top three of Ligue 1 and automatic entry into the Champions League the following season.
