Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is concerned with his side's woeful form
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has offered Premier League referees his support after Liverpool were on the wrong end of a high-profile VAR blunder in their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Ten Hag has backed the country’s officials despite another controversial decision that overshadowed the weekend’s action.
PGMOL acknowledged a ‘significant human error’ in disallowing Luis Diaz’s first-half opener against Tottenham for offside after still images showed Cristian Romero playing him on.
VAR official Darren England and assistant Dan Cook followed the correct procedure after Diaz was wrongly flagged offside, drawing the lines to confirm the decision should be overturned.
But PGMOL claim a ‘lapse of concentration’ led to a ‘check complete’ because those at Stockley Park thought the goal had been awarded rather than their responsibility to overturn the linesman’s decision.
Liverpool responded with an explosive statement on Sunday, claiming ‘sporting integrity has been undermined’ and vowed to ‘explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution’.
Howard Webb has reportedly spoken to the Reds since, and the VAR officials involved were stood down from duty for the rest of the weekend.
However, it won’t soothe the blow for Liverpool, who conceded a 96th-minute winner via Joel Matip’s own goal after seeing Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota both sent off. It was Jurgen Klopp’s side’s first defeat this season.
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Ahead of United’s Champions League Group A clash with Galatasaray at Old Trafford on Tuesday, Ten Hag weighed in on the controversy.
The Dutchman offered referees a message of support, admitting the standards in the Premier League are high but insisting he trusts them.
“I don’t give comments often on refereeing because they do what they need to do. The standards need to be high,” Ten Hag explained.
“You can expect, the fans can, a high standard, so it should be because it’s the Premier League. I’m sure they do what they can. I trust them.”
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Ten Hag confirmed that Lisandro Martinez is set for a spell on the sidelines as he undergoes a second operation on his foot injury suffered in April.
But United could welcome Antony back after he returned to training on Saturday, a month after his last appearance against Arsenal.
Ten Hag said: “Antony will be in consideration, but yesterday was his first time back in team training. We have a final training, then we’ll make a decision.”
United will view it as a must-win encounter after tasting a 4-3 defeat in their opener against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
After Galatasaray, United will continue their flurry of home fixtures, with four of the following five outings at Old Trafford.
Brentford visit on Saturday ahead of the October international break. When club football returns later this month, United travel to newly-promoted Sheffield United.
But the Red Devils then have three more home games to look forward to in three different competitions as October becomes November.
Copenhagen travel to Manchester before a testing double-header against Manchester City in the Premier League and Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
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