24 November 2023 , 15:54
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Marcus Rashford will be banned for one match after his red card for Manchester United against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League earlier this month, UEFA have confirmed.
United were 2-0 up at the time, with their star attacker seeing red for a foul on Elias Jelert. Referee Donatas Rumsas was called to review the footage on the pitchside monitor by VAR before making the call to send Rashford for an early bath.
Boss Erik ten Hag was left furious by the decision, with his side going on to dramatically lose 4-3 to the Danish champions. The defeat has put the Red Devils on the verge of crashing out of the Champions League group stages, with Ten Hag blaming the red card for the loss.
"The red card changed everything," Ten Hag said. "We then conceded two goals before half-time that should never have counted - the first was offside, their player was stood in front of André Onana, and the penalty [for the second] was very debatable.
"The red card was harsh. [Rashford] went for the ball, but the referee had such a long time to make it a red card. When you freeze it, it always looks worse. They took so long to make a red card of it.
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"I'm very disappointed with the decisions, the game was never meant to be like this. Decisions have to be made, wrong decisions can be made, but three such tough decisions [went against us]."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Marcus Rashford deserve to be sent off against Copenhagen? Comment below.
Marcus Rashford will miss one match after his red card against FC Copenhagen (Getty Images)Rashford will now miss next Wednesday's clash with Galatasaray in Turkey, with Ten Hag's side needing to win to get themselves in the running to progress to the knockout stages. Former United star Owen Hargreaves agreed with Ten Hag that the England international should not have been sent off.
"Not in a million years. Marcus is just trying to put his foot in front of the ball, he’s not even looking at the defender. He’s just trying to put his leg up so the defender bumps into him. When you see a still, and this is the first thing the referee sees when he walks over, it looks horrendous," he told TNT Sports.
“But in real time, he’s not trying to foul him. I know it looks poor, but it’s not malicious, it’s not serious foul play. It’s just a foul, it’s just clumsy. It’s not a red. They’ve got to stop re-reffing these games like that because it’s ruining it.”
Even Jelert, who was on the end of Rashford's tackle, insisted the United star had been unfortunate. He also revealed that Rashford apologised to him as the referee checked the VAR screen.
He said: "It is after the tackle at the red card, which I also think is unfortunate. He just tries to screen, but I get hit high and wiggle my ankle violently. Now that it has cooled, I can feel it is stiff and swollen. When they checked on VAR, he was there to say sorry. So there was nothing malicious about it."