Brighton boss Graham Potter believes referee Peter Bankes was pressurised by the Manchester United players to send off Lewis Dunk.
Albion were beaten 2-0 by the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes.
Three minutes after Ronaldo’s opener, Dunk dragged down Anthony Elanga with the young winger through on goal.
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Bankes originally gave Dunk a yellow card with fellow centre-half Adam Webster covering, but following a VAR review, the referee overturned the decision and sent the Brighton captain for an early bath.
And Potter has hinted that the reaction of the United players heavily influenced VAR’s decision to review the decision.
Ronaldo led the protests as close to the whole starting XI surrounded Bankes, urging the referee to change his yellow card to a red one.
“It was a yellow card live, Webster was there on the cover. It is not clear and obvious. I don’t understand the intervention,” Potter said (quotes via Manchester Evening News).
Asked about the pressure from United’s players, the Seagulls head coach replied: “Asking the question you are answering the question. I don’t blame them I am not being critical it is what it is.
“They have to do their bit for the team but you need the referee and VAR to make the calls independently.”
Potter added that he was pleased with his side’s performance, but admits they rode their luck playing 10 vs 11.
“I thought we were the better team in the first half, I was really happy with our performance, the attacks Man United had were from our giveaways but it’s not easy here to control their transitions, they attack big spaces really well,” he added.
“We don’t start the second half well enough, we got punished with a world-class finish from a world-class player, then a controversial red card and it was about us trying to hang on, we rode our luck in that period.
“We gave ourselves a chance, Jakub hit the bar and Danny had that header. I’m proud of the performance.”
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