Erik ten Hag says Manchester United used the “injustice” of the situation involving defender Matthijs de Ligt as fuel in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback victory over Brentford.
The Dutch defender suffered a nasty gash on his head in a collision with Brentford forward Kevin Schade’s knee. His head bleeding profusely, De Ligt was forced off the pitch for treatment multiple times in the opening half of the match at Old Trafford.
He was asked to leave the field in first-half stoppage time by referee Sam Barrott just before a Brentford corner kick, and, during his absence, Ethan Pinnock powered home a header to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Ten Hag, incensed, was shown a yellow card for his remonstrations and said that De Ligt shouldn’t have been forced off the pitch.
“It was dry blood so he was already treated for the injury. I didn’t understand why he was sent off,” the United manager explained, according to Laurie Whitwell and Omar Garrick of The Athletic. “I went over to Matthijs and he said ‘it is dry blood and I have to come off, I don’t know why.’ A huge moment because Brentford is very good at corners and you miss one of your best headers.”
“It is hypothetical, we will never know but definitely we were mad and angry at halftime,” he added. “We had the idea, it was not perfect but we controlled the game. We didn’t concede chances, we created some and then injustice when you concede.”
According to International Football Association Board (IFAB) rules, referees must ensure that “any player bleeding leaves the field of play,” and the player can only return when the official is “satisfied that the bleeding has stopped and there is no blood on the equipment.”
De Ligt emerged from the halftime interval with his head wound treated. He ended up playing the entire match.
Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund turned the contest around in the second half as Manchester United earned their first win in all competitions in over a month.
