Halsey supports Man Utd captain Fernandes in red card controversy: Ansser Sadiq

The Portuguese player was shown a red card for his reckless challenge on James Maddison.

The Sun columnist Mark Halsey states the decision was a little unfortunate, but more a case of the referee thinking the tackle was poor in real time.

He wrote: "In these circumstances a ref has to consider whether a challenge was reckless, which would be worthy of a caution, or if it has endangered a player’s safety with excessive force and brutality — a red-card offence.

"Looking back at the footage, you would have to say it was reckless rather than a case of serious foul play.

"There should be no criticism of Kavanagh as he only gets one view of it.

"But the question to ask is why VAR Peter Bankes did not get involved, as he sees what we see.

"If VAR had recommended a review I’m sure Kavanagh would have changed his mind."

Fernandes was furious, telling post-match: "Even James Maddison when he gets up he said it’s not a red card.

"If this is a red card we have to look at many other incidents.

"I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t call him   to the screen.

"The red card makes it worse. I have to appreciate all the effort my team-mates have done to try and return to the game but it wasn't possible. They showed great effort and character and I was happy for that."

Ten Hag said: "I don’t think it’s a red card. We had big chances   and it’s only 1-0 so we could make a comeback. It had a big impact on the game."