Arbeloa criticises officials after Fulham's draw with Manchester United

Alvaro Arbeloa expressed his anger towards the officials following the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Sunday. The Fulham manager suggested that the referees were biased and did not want Manchester United to suffer a defeat at Craven Cottage.

The home side took the lead in the 63rd minute due to an unusual own goal from Lisandro Martinez. It appeared that Fulham was on course for their first Premier League victory of the season, but Matheus Cunha’s deflected shot found the net in the 89th minute to level the score.

After the match, Arbeloa was visibly frustrated and made serious allegations against the officiating. He highlighted a free-kick awarded for a push by Cesar Palacios on Harry Maguire just before Cunha’s goal as a key decision he disagreed with. Arbeloa implied that the officials were determined not to let Manchester United lose following their contentious defeat to Manchester City the previous week. “All fouls for them,” Arbeloa stated to Sky Sports. “You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire, he’s a guy who is 100 kilos. Every decision was for them. And I knew. I knew after the game against Man City that they [would not] let Manchester United lose here. We deserved a little bit more.”

Referee Peter Bankes officiated the match in west London. Arbeloa continued, “We were so close. So, so close. We were a little bit unlucky again. We knew it would be difficult against this big team. Also we knew what happened last week. We have seen what the referees have been doing all the match so it was a difficult game. And we were unlucky.”

In his post-match press conference, the former Real Madrid manager softened his stance, admitting he was “not really happy” but suggesting his earlier comments may have been misunderstood. “My English is not so good. Maybe I explain myself so bad and I prefer not to say anything about the referees because you never know,” he said. Arbeloa added, “When you say something that you don’t have to say, it’s better to stay calm, focus on the performance of my team and focus on the next game. I’m not really happy. Like I said, I need to be focused and put my energy in all the things that I have to improve.”

He acknowledged that while Maguire is a “very big guy” and perhaps the incident wasn’t a foul, he preferred to concentrate on analysing the game. “You know when you draw a game like that, maybe you’re a little bit frustrated.”

Former Manchester United player Ashley Young disagreed with Arbeloa, defending the referee's decision. “It’s definitely a foul. Palacios isn’t looking at the ball, he’s straight into Maguire’s back,” the England international remarked. “I know he [Arbeloa] says Maguire is 100kg, but he’s smart, he’s waiting for the foul to be committed.” The refereeing body Pro Ref acknowledged after last weekend’s Manchester derby that Erling Haaland’s goal should not have counted due to Enzo Fernandez being offside, despite VAR overturning the officials’ decision.

Source: Metro