Pierluigi Collina has criticised Premier League referee Andy Madley for taking pity on Manchester United during their historic 7-0 defeat against Liverpool last weekend.
Jurgen Klopp’s rampant Reds ran riot in the second half at Anfield, scoring six times during a memorable second half blitz, led by a Mohamed Salah and the increasingly impressive Cody Gakpo.
Despite the avalanche of goals, Madley only added on an additional three minutes of injury-time, much to Collina’s surprise.
‘Last weekend, ten matches were played in the Premier League and four matches exceeded 100 minutes [in total],’ the FIFA referees’ chief told The Times.
‘Two of them should have been higher than this only because they were 7-0 and 4-0 [Brighton v West Ham United] and the referee probably decided not to consider the additional time be given accurately.
‘Six goals were scored in the second half [at Anfield]. I can understand that giving quite a relevant amount of additional time when it is 7-0 is difficult to understand in this specific match.
‘But if the regulations of the competition say that the entire goal difference is relevant for the ranking at the end even one goal scored or not scored can make the difference.’
United, meanwhile, bounced back from that chastening experience to put on foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League following their 4-1 win over Real Betis last night, a response that delighted Erik ten Hag.
The United boss was particularly pleased with the performance of his under-fire captain Bruno Fernandes, despite the yellow card he received that will rule him out of the second leg.
‘He was the best player on the pitch,’ said Ten Hag. ‘He played a little deeper role and he was brilliant, making the game from the back position, with a lot of good passes in between the lines. From there we created a lot of chances.’
‘His passion is his strength,’ added Ten Hag. ‘But sometimes he has to control that because when it’s too much, it becomes a weakness. He knows that, but there are always small margins.’
MORE : Owen Hargreaves names ‘best player on the pitch’ as Manchester United thump Real Betis in Europa League
MORE : Bruno Fernandes challenge labelled ‘stupid’ by Manchester United legend Paul Scholes
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