Alan Shearer could not believe that Diogo Dalot was not shown a red card for his ‘terrible tackle’ on Jeremy Doku during the Manchester derby, blasting the ‘ridiculous’ decision from the referee and VAR.
Manchester United picked up an impressive 2-0 win over City at Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime, but it could have been very different.
Dalot made a lunging challenge on Doku just 11 minutes into the contest, not getting near the ball and planting his studs high on the winger’s leg.
The Portuguese full-back escaped with a yellow card, despite VAR having a look at the incident, which left the Belgian on the deck.
The Premier League Match Centre confirmed why the foul was only worthy of a yellow card, stating that it was a ‘glancing’ impact.
A statement posted on X read: ‘The referee’s call of yellow card to Dalot for a reckless challenge was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact deemed to be glancing and not with excessive force.’
Shearer was among the many people who did not agree with that assessment, confused as to how the reckless challenge could be seen as having a ‘glancing’ impact.
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‘There’s no doubt about it,’ Shearer said on Match of the Day. ‘It’s as clear a red card as you’re going to see.
‘They came out with “deemed to be glancing.” That is nonsense. That is as straight, as full on, as high and as dangerous as you’re going to see.
‘He’s endangering the opponent. It’s a straight red card. That’s nonsense, the glancing thing. I understand why the referee hasn’t given it, but you’ve got two guys on VAR who don’t think that is dangerous? That’s ridiculous. I don’t know how they come up with that. It’s a terrible tackle.’
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney agreed, saying: ‘Initially I thought it wasn’t but when you watch it back I think it’s the clearest red card you’ll ever see. What’s worrying is that VAR don’t see that. That’s the big worry.’
‘We have to look at ourselves’
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola seemed to suggest he thought it was a red card as well, but was keen not to make an excuse for his team’s defeat.
‘You could say that, you could say that red card, different game. Many, many situations happen,’ he said.
‘It is easy for me to come here and say it should be a red card. It is not about that; we will not grow up if that is the argument to win or lose a game. You have to do better, and we didn’t today.
‘We have to look at ourselves. There are some teams that won 10v11. Maybe we wouldn’t have won.’
‘What more do you want for a red card?’
Certainly the consensus of ex-players appears to be that it was a clear sending-off, with Roy Keane agreeing with Shearer and Rooney.
‘Listen, I’ve been down this road before, I’ve given out some heavy tackles and been on the receiving end of a few,’ said the former Manchester United captain on Sky Sports.
‘To me, I’m no expert on red cards, but I think it’s a red.’
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards added: ‘He’s on top of his knee. That’s as clear a red card as you’re going to see. What more do you want for a red card? Studs on the knee. It’s a red card.’
