Mansion Sports – Fulham’s match against Manchester United at Craven Cottage ended in a 1-1 draw, but the result left the hosts deeply disappointed. Fulham were actually on the verge of victory before Matheus Cunha’s 89th-minute goal erased their lead.

Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa even made strong accusations against the match officials.

He felt the referee appeared determined to ensure that Manchester United did not lose the match.

However, afterward, Arbeloa appeared more cautious when asked about his comments again in the press conference.

Arbeloa Voices His Anger Over the Refereeing

Arbeloa did not hold back when giving his assessment of the refereeing after Fulham drew 1-1 with Manchester United.

He suggested that the officiating team had been influenced by the controversy that emerged following the recent Manchester derby.

Fulham appeared set to claim a famous victory until Matheus Cunha’s shot deflected off another player in the 89th minute to save Manchester United from defeat.

However, Arbeloa was furious about the sequence of events that led to the goal. Referee Peter Bankes awarded United a free-kick that the Fulham manager considered a “soft” foul in the middle of the pitch after Cesar Palacios tackled Harry Maguire, just 35 seconds before the equaliser.

The Spanish manager claimed that the officials were giving United “all the fouls” as a reaction to the controversy surrounding Erling Haaland’s winning goal, which should not have been awarded at Old Trafford the previous weekend.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Arbeloa suggested that the officials were trying to make up for the controversy surrounding Erling Haaland’s winning goal for Manchester City against United the previous weekend.

“All the fouls for them,” Arbeloa said. “You can see before they score the goal, the foul on Maguire, he is a guy who weighs 100 kilograms.”

“Every decision went their way. And I know. After the game against Man City, they [will not] let Manchester United lose here.”

“We deserved a little bit more. We were so close. Very, very close. We were a little bit unlucky again. We knew it was going to be difficult against this big team. We also knew what happened last week.”

“We saw what the referees did throughout the game, so it was a difficult match. And we were unlucky.”

Clearer and Calmer in the Press Conference

When Arbeloa attended the post-match press conference, the Fulham manager—who took charge of the club this summer after leaving Real Madrid—appeared to realise the seriousness of the accusations he had previously made.

“My English is not very good,” Arbeloa admitted to reporters. “Maybe I explained it very badly and I prefer not to say anything about the referees because you never know.”

“When you say something you should not say, it is better to stay calm, focus on my team’s performance and focus on the next game. I am not really happy.”

“As I said, I need to stay focused and put my energy into everything I need to improve.”

“[Maguire] is a very big player and maybe it was not a foul. But it is okay. As I said, I prefer to analyse the game—the players, the system, and that is the best way to win. You know when you draw a game like that, maybe you are a little frustrated.”

Pundits Offer Their Views on the Foul on Maguire

While Arbeloa felt his team had been disadvantaged, former Manchester United captain Ashley Young disagreed with the assessment that the incident involving Maguire was not a foul.

Young argued that although Maguire effectively used his physical strength, the contact from Cesar Palacios was still a foul.

“Clearly it is a foul,” Young told Sky Sports. “Palacios does not see the ball, he goes straight into the back of Maguire. I know he [Arbeloa] said Maguire weighs 100 kilograms, but he is clever, he waits until the foul is committed.”

Louis Saha, who played for both clubs during his career, also offered a similar view that experience played a major role in the incident. He believed Maguire was clever in positioning his body to draw contact from the Fulham player.

“Indeed. Maybe it is a soft foul, but that is where some players have experience, they use their bodies in the right way. In his position, he [Maguire] felt he could not control the ball, so that was clever play from Maguire,” Saha said when asked whether it was a foul.

Both Teams Struggling Ahead of the International Break

The 1-1 draw did little to ease the pressure on either team in the Premier League table.

Michael Carrick’s side at least avoided a third defeat in an extremely demanding week, but they entered the international break in 12th place—having collected just five points from their opening five matches, matching their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, which occurred in the 2014-15 campaign.

For Fulham, the additional point kept them in 19th place with just two points.

They are still without a victory and remain above bottom side Tottenham only on goal difference.

Both teams will now look to evaluate their performances and recover during the international break. Fulham will travel to face Coventry City on October 10, while Manchester United will host Tottenham at Old Trafford on the same day.