Don’t be fooled by the 0-0 scoreline at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon; this match was far from some of the dull, uneventful scoreless draws recorded by Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United side last season.
Whereas United struggled to create chances under the Dutchman a year ago, the same couldn’t be said in this game. In total, they managed 37 shots on the Burnley goal – more than any Premier League team has managed in any match since records began.
A combination of Tom Heaton’s brilliance and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s wastefulness saw Burnley get out of the Theatre of Dreams with their first away point of the season. However, as pointed out by many after the game, the result was also heavily influenced by a couple of key decisions from Mark Clattenburg.
The referee denied Matteo Darmian a penalty on the stroke of half-time (reportedly sending Jose Mourinho to the stands for his protests about the incident) and, having already angered the home crowd by this, decided that Ander Herrera was worthy of a second yellow card after he slipped when approaching Burnley’s Dean Marney. There were 25 minutes still to play at the time of Herrera’s dismissal and, although United continued to dominate with ten men, you’d have fancied them to force a breakthrough with an extra man on the field.
Writing about his performance in his column for the Daily Mail, former referee Graham Poll has now claimed that Clattenburg’s main weakness is that he gives nothing to a team once their supporters have turned against him -using the example of a game he refereed between Liverpool and Everton nine years ago.
‘Everton fans will testify that Clattenburg has an Achilles heel, which is that he gives nothing to a side once their fans turn against him.
It was their derby match in October 2007 when the Geordie dug his heels in and ignored clear offences by Liverpool players and now United fans know the same.
Matteo Darmian was tripped by Burnley’s Jon Flanagan just inside the penalty area right on half time but Clattenburg waved away the appeals which clearly incensed the United faithful and their manager Mourinho, who could not control his frustration and was sent to the stands.
To be fair to Clattenburg, the contact by Flanagan was fractional and the reaction by Darmian was extreme which may have caused doubt in the referee’s mind.
There was no such allowance for Clattenburg when he incorrectly dismissed Ander Herrera for a second yellow card after the midfielder slipped when approaching a tackle on Dean Marney. The decision cannot be appealed as it was the second yellow card and so Herrera will miss United’s next game.’
So there you have it, United fans. The next time Clattenburg gives what you feel is an incorrect decision against your side, don’t get on his back about it or things will become much, much worse.
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