Alvaro Arbeloa suggested the officials did not want Manchester United to lose at Fulham on Sunday, as the teams played out a 1-1 draw.
The home team went ahead on 63 minutes at Craven Cottage thanks to a bizarre Lisandro Martinez own goal.
It looked like it was going to be a first win of the Premier League season for the Cottagers but Matheus Cunha’s deflected shot found the back of the net on 89 minutes.
Arbeloa was frustrated after the final whistle and aimed a wild accusation at the officials in his post-match interview.
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The Fulham boss pointed to a free-kick given for Cesar Palacios pushing Harry Maguire before Cunha’s goal as an example of a decision he disagreed with, before suggesting that the officials did not want Manchester United to lose after their controversial loss to Manchester City last weekend.
‘All fouls for them,’ Arbeloa told Sky Sports. ‘You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire, he’s a guy who is 100 kilos. Every decision was for them.
‘And I knew. I knew after the game against Man City that they [would not] let Manchester United lose here. We deserved a little bit more.
‘We were so close. So, so close. We were a little bit unlucky again. We knew it would be difficult against this big team.
‘Also we knew what happened last week. We have seen what the referees have been doing all the match so it was a difficult game. And we were unlucky.’
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The former Real Madrid manager changed his tune a bit in his post-match press conference, saying he is ‘not really happy’ but suggesting that he may have been misunderstood with his earlier comments.
‘My English is not so good. Maybe I explain myself so bad and I prefer not to say anything about the referees because you never know,’ he said.
‘When you say something that you don’t have to say, it’s better to stay calm, focus on the performance of my team and focus on the next game.
‘I’m not really happy. Like I said, I need to be focused and put my energy in all the things that I have to improve.
‘[Maguire] is a very big guy and maybe it wasn’t a foul. But it’s ok. Like I said, I prefer to analyse the game – players, systems and it’s the best for win.
‘You know when you draw a game like that, maybe you’re a little bit frustrated.’
Former Manchester United star Ashley Young did not see the fuss over the foul on Maguire, saying referee Peter Bankes got the decision right.
‘It’s definitely a foul. Palacios isn’t looking at the ball, he’s straight into Maguire’s back,’ said the England international.
‘I know he [Arbeola] says Maguire is 100kg, but he’s smart, he’s waiting for the foul to be committed.’
Refereeing body Pro Ref acknowledged after last weekend’s Manchester derby that Erling Haaland’s goal should not have stood due to Enzo Fernandez being offside, despite VAR overturning the officials to give it.
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