Man United vs Brighton ref watch: Three decisions Anthony Taylor got wrong
Anthony Taylor made numerous contentious decisions as Man United beat Brighton 4-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.
Man United took the lead in the 23rd minute as Matheus Cunha curled home his first goal for the club since joining in the summer from Wolves.
They soon doubled their lead as Casemiro‘s deflected effort wrong-footed Bart Verbruggen and trickled into an empty net and Brighton went even further behind through Bryan Mbeumo‘s goal in the second-half.
Brighton were aiming to make Premier League history by winning four consecutive games at Old Trafford, and they tried to fight back as Danny Welbeck netted a fine free-kick and club-record signing Charalampos Kostoulas scored in added-time.
Anthony Taylor was the man in the middle of this controversial clash as it ended 4-2 to Ruben Amorim‘s side after Mbeumo bagged his brace, and Football Insider have picked out three decisions he made that should have gone a different way.
Man United should have had a penalty for Amad Diallo trip
The Red Devils started the brighter team and felt they should have had a penalty inside the first quarter of an hour as Amad Diallo looked to have been tripped by Maxim De Cuyper.
Taylor waved some strong claims away as the VAR officials also deemed the tackle to be legitimate, but it definitely should have been a penalty even if the Brighton man got a slight touch on the ball.
He very clearly tripped the United winger and impeded him before getting a nick on the ball as it went past him, and so the hosts should have been given the chance to open the scoring even earlier than they did.
Bryan Mbeumo deserved a booking for a clear dive
United continued to press forward in the early stages of the game, and they were again claiming for a spot-kick and red card as Mbeumo went down under a perceived challenge from Lewis Dunk as the last man.
Mbeumo, who joined the club from Brentford in the summer, did not deserve a penalty or free-kick though, as he very clearly made a meal of the challenge and was barely touched by the Seagulls defender.
Taylor then failed to book him for the blatant dive, despite it being clear simulation and an attempt to deceive the match official.
Mbeumo’s goal should not have counted
United may have felt hard done by due to Amad’s penalty claims, but they also rode their luck in the second-half as Mbeumo’s goal was checked and allowed by VAR.
In the build-up to the Cameroonian’s neat finish, Red Devils defender Luke Shaw pulled Georginio Rutter off the ball before Diogo Dalot played it into Benjamin Sesko, who then found Mbeumo as he struck past Verbruggen.
Taylor failed to spot the clear foul by Shaw on Rutter as he tugged the Brighton forward’s shirt and clearly impeded him, with his teammates then remonstrating with the referee over his decision.
The Premier League released a statement on X after the decision saying that VAR had cleared the call due to “minimal” contact between the two players, but it shouldn’t have even got to that point as it was a definite foul.