Jose Mourinho was furious Manchester United were not given a penalty in the loss to Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Ander Herrera went down in the area under a challenge from Nicolas Otamendi, but referee Michael Oliver decided to book the United midfielder for simulation.
It seemed the right decision after replays showed Herrera ran into Otamendi’s foot rather than the City defender deliberately tried to bring down the Spaniard.
Oliver’s decision enraged Herrera and his team-mates and Mourinho was equally annoyed after the game.
‘My first reaction is I feel sorry for referee Michael Oliver because he had a very good match, but unfortunately he made an important mistake.
‘The result was made with a big penalty not given [on Ander Herrera]. That would have been 2-2 with 20 minutes to go,’ he said.
‘The referee made a mistake which can happen. Last season we had a similar situation against Man City and Mr Clattenburg didn’t see [a] Bravo [foul] on Rooney.
‘I’m sorry for Michael Oliver because I think he had a good performance.
Manchester United 2018/19 Fixtures
Fulham (A) - Feb 9
PSG (H) - Feb 12
Chelsea (A) - Feb 18
Liverpool (H) - Feb 24
Crystal Palace (A) - Feb 27
Southampton (H) - Mar 2
‘The referee is a human being he tried his best, I think he was very committed to having a good match which I think he had, but he made one mistake which was crucial for the match.
‘Michael was unlucky, because it was a clear penalty.’
United conceded two sloppy goals with Romelu Lukaku giving a helping hand to City taking the lead twice in the game.
Lukaku seemed to duck out of the way before the ball reached David Silva for City’s opener and the striker then accidentally cleared the ball into the back of Chris Smalling to hand Otamendi the chance to restore the Sky Blues’ lead.
Mourinho has often clashed with officials and has racked up several FA fines for slating officials and questioning their integrity.
The loss leaves United eleven points behind City at the top of the table and all but ends their hopes of challenging their local rivals for the title.
MORE : Jose Mourinho’s brutal reaction as Romelu Lukaku is denied by world-class Ederson save
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