Manchester United have been fined heavily by the FA after being found culpable of two charges.
The Red Devils were accused of failing to control their players in the draws against Chelsea and Newcastle.
In the Newcastle draw, United were seemingly on the end of poor officiating and saw a perfectly-fine Cristiano Ronaldo goal ruled out by Craig Pawson.
Ronaldo’s predatory instincts kicked in and he nabbed the ball from Nick Pope before finding the back of the net. The referee chalked the goal off but video evidence after the draw showed the goal was legal and thus should have stood.
United’s players charged at the referee and surrounded him, led by a furious Ronaldo who was adamant that he did no wrong.
Against Chelsea, United’s stars again surrounded the referee who gave a controversial penalty after he deemed that Scott McTominay had brought down Armando Broja inside the box.
Jorginho dispatched the ensuing spot-kick before a late Casemiro header ensured Erik ten Hag’s men got a share of the points.
The two incidents did not go down well with the FA who released a statement saying, “Manchester United FC has been fined £82,000 in total for breaching FA Rule E20.1 during its Premier League matches against Newcastle United FC on Sunday 16 October and Chelsea FC on Saturday 22 October.”
“Manchester United FC admitted that it failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the 49th minute of the Newcastle United FC game and the 84th minute of the Chelsea FC fixture.”
“Independent Regulatory Commissions imposed fines of £45,000 and £37,000 for the respective breaches in the Newcastle United FC and Chelsea FC matches during separate hearings.”
🚨 JUST IN:
Manchester United are fined a total of £82,000 for the behavior of the players in the matches against Newcastle and Chelsea. @FAspokesperson #MUFC pic.twitter.com/lJAetmjNbB
— UtdPlug (@UtdPlug) November 9, 2022
The footballing authorities promised to release written reasons for their verdict in due course. The fact that both decisions seemed very questionable and could have cost United four points does not excuse badgering the referee, but all the same, in the light of the circumstances, both fines seem very harsh.
Hopefully, the team looks past these incidents as they face Aston Villa tomorrow in the Carabao Cup.