Man Utd interim boss Ralf Rangnick has questioned referee Mike Dean’s decision to rule out two goals in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor.
United thought they had gone in front with 12 minutes gone as Raphael Varane converted a Bruno Fernandes free-kick. But Harry Maguire was offside in the build-up and had stopped Jay Rodriguez from getting into the box to defend, forcing the official to chalk it off.
The Red Devils remained on top and deservedly went in front soon afterwards. Luke Shaw found Paul Pogba in space and the midfielder did well to fire into the roof of the net, giving Clarets goalkeeper Nick Pope no chance.
Josh Brownhill tapped a Marcus Rashford cross into his own net in the 21st minute but Dean once again ruled it out, this time for a foul on Erik Pieters by Pogba.
Edinson Cavani, in from the start instead of Cristiano Ronaldo, had a great chance to score at the back post but was denied by Pope.
Burnley equalised after the break as Wout Weghorst turned two United players before playing in Rodriguez. The forward kept his cool in front of goal, chipping over David de Gea to make it 1-1.
United pushed for a winner, with Ronaldo coming off the bench to replace Cavani, but Burnley did well to keep the score level.
Ralf Rangnick praises United’s first half
Reacting to the draw, Rangnick told BBC Match of the Day: “I think we played a fantastic first half, couldn’t have played any better. We scored three goals, the second that was disallowed I cannot understand. It was a very, very soft decision by the linesman. He flagged the foul five or six seconds after it took pace.
“Anyway it was 1-0 at half time, we knew they would come out in the second half in a more aggressive way and the only thing I can complain the team about was we were not aggressive enough in the first 20 minutes of the second half.”
Rangnick then admitted his frustration at the result, not for the first time this campaign. “If you look into the whole game we dominated for most of it. Winning one point is not enough and frustrating again,” he added.
“It really surprised me he flagged when the ball was in the net. Had he really seen the foul? The first I can understand why it was disallowed, it was a hard one, but the second I cannot understand.
“[In the second half] we were playing tiki taka football in our own half and not direct enough. We had the counter attack but gave the ball away too easily in their box.”
When asked if his side needs to find consistency, Rangnick continued: “Yes, but under normal circumstances we should have been two or three up at half time. It should have been more than 1-0. Today we scored three goals, I cannot blame the team for not scoring.”
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‘Two points dropped’ – Harry Maguire reacts
During a post-match interview with BT Sport, skipper Maguire said: “I think you saw the first half. We had control. We have got to win the game with the amount of chances we created. We had to get that second goal. Two points dropped.
“We wanted to dominate the game but for sure when you come to Burnley away you are not going to dominate for 90 minutes. We had to see it out better. We conceded like against Middlesbrough when they had that spell of pressure. We have got to be that bit more clinical.
“It was a disappointing goal on our behalf to concede. We came out in the second half a bit sloppy. We had long enough in the game to come back from that and try and find the winner.
“We demand on ourselves to win the football match so it is disappointing.”
When asked about Varane’s disallowed goal, Maguire added: “I think he gave it offside. He said it wasn’t a foul. Interfering with play, I don’t know. I don’t think Rodriguez would have been affecting the goal.
“I think the other one for Paul Pogba’s judged to have fouled. It was definitely not a foul.”
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