After Manchester United’s 3-1 loss to Aston Villa last month, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) stated that referee Anthony Taylor made a mistake by allowing Lucas Digne’s free-kick to get in behind the United’s defense. In Unai Emery’s first game as Villa manager on November 6, Digne put the visitors up 2-0 after only 11 minutes. United was confused as to why they had pulled back their wall for the set piece more than the usual 10 yards.
Referee Anthony Taylor made a mistake
The Manchester Evening News reports that the referee was miked up, allowing United to listen in on his conversations with the teams’ players. Christian Eriksen, a Danish midfielder, allegedly told Taylor that United’s wall was too far back during one of the conversations at issue but was ‘tersely disregarded.’ Cheshire-born Taylor, 44, hasn’t officiated a Premier League game since United’s 3-1 loss to Villa at Villa Park.
Although he has already officiated two World Cup games (Ghana’s 3-2 win over South Korea and Croatia’s goalless draw with Belgium), the PGMOL has opted to give him the whistle for United’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest tonight.
United manager Erik ten Hag commented after the loss at Villa Park, “I think the free-kick is stoppable because the wall is too far.” Also, United are in the fifth position with 26 points, but they have two games in hand on fourth-place Tottenham, who are four points ahead of them. Plus, United hasn’t played in the Premier League since returning from the World Cup last month, when they beat Fulham 2-1.
