Bruno Fernandes netted a stunning free-kick to open the scoring for Manchester United in their eventual 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
While Fernandes’ free-kick was excellent, David Raya was perhaps stood to far to his right and allowed the free-kick to nestle into the back of the net far too easily.
But as Bruno Fernandes gave Manchester United the lead, Sky Sports revealed that referee Anthony Taylor allowed the hosts to take the free-kick from 11.2 yards instead of the stipulated 10-yard distance.
Arsenal are in a race to win the Premier League title with Liverpool and even the most minute of decisions that go against them could hurt them in their quest for domestic glory as they now sit 15 points behind Liverpool with one game to spare.
| Position | Team | Played MP |
Won W |
Drawn D |
Lost L |
For GF |
Against GA |
Diff GD |
Points Pts |
 LiverpoolLiverpool |
29 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 69 | 27 | 42 | 70 | |
| 2 |  ArsenalArsenal |
28 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 55 |
However, the counterargument will be that the Gunners had enough time to beat Manchester United after Declan Rice’s equaliser in the 74th minute.
Furthermore, with the form both teams have been in this season, the visitors should have won comfortably as well.
Micah Richards says Anthony Taylor not at fault for Bruno Fernandes’ goal in Man United vs Arsenal
But Arsenal might well be frustrated as Anthony Taylor had the routine task of mapping out his steps and not giving Fernandes and Manchester United an advantage before the free-kick was taken.
The North Londoners have been front and centre of several controversial decisions this season and once again, a major talking point surrounding them involves one.
But Micah Richards feels Anthony Taylor should not be blamed after reacting to Fernandes’ terrific free-kick for Manchester United against Arsenal.
Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “I think a lot of people would be asking, who aren’t die-hard fans, what does it matter if the wall’s further back, you can get the ball up and down because you’ve got more space to get the ball up and down so it’s more difficult for the goalkeeper.”
“But if we’re scrutinising that, the referee took 10 steps, didn’t he? If we actually watch the footage back, we can’t be blaming the referee for that because if that happens, I think now in football, we’re over-analysing everything. The referee’s human, he’s walked out and took 10 steps…”
Micah Richards added that football is not an exact science and Fernandes’ goal against Arsenal should not be one that is analysed too much after Manchester United earned a well-deserved point: “You’ve got all these amazing technologies nowadays that give you precise [answers] but football’s never been like that, has it? And you can’t expect the referee to get a ruler out and start measuring exact lengths.”
What did Mikel Arteta say about Bruno Fernandes’ goal for Manchester United vs Arsenal?
Mikel Arteta would have been distraught after the result.
The Spaniard has seen his side drop needless points against far too many teams this season and it is looking more and more likely that Liverpool will lift the league title now.
But when asked about whether the referee made a mistake for Fernandes’ goal for Manchester United against Arsenal, Mikel Arteta simply lauded the player for taking advantage of the mistake.
Arteta said via HaytersTV: “Football is for street-smart players and if Bruno has done that and he’s capitalised on that, he was more clever than us and the referee.”
“He’s done it, it was a goal, they took advantage of that. Football is for clever people.”
It seems like Mikel Arteta has sided with Micah Richards and in his view, while the referee did make an error during Arsenal’s draw against Manchester United, Fernandes’ goal is not the be all and end all of what transpired during the contest.
