Ipswich Town were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men after Jacob Greaves’ tackle on Manchester United star Matheus Cunha ahead of the Red Devils’ spot-kick effort.
Manchester United were leading Ipswich Town 2-1 in the second half when Matheus Cunha was played through before the 27-year-old Brazilian was brought down.
Jacob Greaves’ challenge resulted in a penalty kick for the Red Devils and Bruno Fernandes stepped up and converted to put Man Utd 3-1 up against Ipswich.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher was not asked why Greaves was not sent off after Cunha was the last man during the Red Devils’ attack.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher said the margin for a red card was thin and it all depended on the context of how the challenge was committed.
He explained that Ipswich Town would have been reduced to 10 men had Jacob Greaves hacked Matheus Cunha down outside of the Ipswich box on Sunday.
Gallagher added that the circumstances for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity would lead to a yellow instead of a red for how the tackle played out
“If it was a yard further back and he was outside the box, it’s a red card,” he said.
“But because it’s inside the box, we have this rule of: does he make a genuine attempt to play the ball?”
Gallagher continued: “He’s so close to it. People will say it’s cynical, but once he’s in the penalty area, the law changes. It becomes DOGSO yellow card, rather than DOGSO red card.
“It used to be triple jeopardy: penalty, red card, suspension. There, it’s just a penalty.”
Greaves did receive a yellow card from Premier League referee Craig Pawson before Bruno Fernandes sent Kjell Scherpen the wrong way from the spot-kick effort.
United beat Ipswich 5-2 in their first Premier League clash of the season at Old Trafford and the Red Devils chalked up their first points of the campaign as well.
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