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Ole Gunnar Solskjær admitted that he considered replacing Fred before the Brazilian was sent off in Manchester United’s 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford, jeopardizing his hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. .
Before a second yellow card in the 70th minute, the coach declared that Fred had been lucky to stay when, at 24 minutes, he appeared to head butt Leandro Paredes. Following VAR instructions, the referee, Daniel Orsato, studied the field monitor and issued only a first yellow card.
The midfielder’s second came for what seemed like a fair tackle to Ander Herrera and Solskjær admitted that he did consider eliminating Fred in the interval.
“Yes [I did]. Fred has played very well. We talk about keeping calm and standing [at the break]”Said the manager. “The second yellow card was not by far a foul. Ander knows it. Fred shouldn’t turn his head towards Paredes [but] I don’t think I touched it. He was a bit lucky to stay.
“Fred played very disciplined in the second half and when he makes a tackle like this you can’t blame the boy. But after the decision the referee made, maybe I’ll look back and say there should be [taken him off]. The referee made a mistake there, but it is allowed. Fred knows he shouldn’t turn his head towards someone even if he doesn’t touch him. “
Solskjaer was pressed on whether, given that the PSG players could have hoped to cause a second yellow card, Fred should have been replaced.
“You can’t say Ander tried to provoke him, that’s a bit unfair to Ander,” said the coach. “I thought Fred kept his head and calm exceptionally well in the second half and I had no luck with that decision from the referee. So in hindsight you can say that having 11 men of course would have been better, but who can say? “
Thomas Tuchel, PSG coach, was puzzled by Orsato’s decision. “I had the impression that Fred gave a butt and the VAR confirmed it, so I was surprised that it was a yellow card,” he said.
United still control their own destiny, knowing a point at RB Leipzig next week guarantees advancement to the knockout phase.
“We have to dust ourselves off,” Solskjaer said. “We go into any game wanting to win.”
The Norwegian offered an update on the injury suffered by Marcus Rashford, who tied Neymar’s first goal against Marquinhos and a new goal from the Brazilian sealed PSG’s victory. “It’s a nasty shoulder injury,” Solskjaer said. “Let’s see how quickly it can be recovered. Hopefully he’s ready for the West Ham game. [on Saturday]. “
