YOU CONNED US
Rashford dive leaves Clement in a rage but United fall short again
SWANSEA boss Paul Clement accused Marcus Rashford of tricking the referee to win Manchester United a penalty at Old Trafford yesterday.
The United striker was already going down before he made slight contact with goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but Neil Swarbrick pointed to the spot and Wayne Rooney converted.
‘I’ve seen the replay and the player has deceived the referee,’ said Clement. ‘It’s clear, there’s no other way to look at it.
‘You could say he’s dangled a leg to get the contact, but he’s down before there’s any kind of contact. The keeper pulled out of it.
‘I’m not saying (Rashford is a) cheat. I’m saying deceived. It’s the word I’ve chosen. I would use cheat another time. On this occasion I’m saying he deceived him.
‘You want players to be honest and give their best and play hard, but not to do those kind of things. Lukasz was furious. He said, “I’ve gone down to get hands on the ball, I can see I can’t get it and I’ve come away from it, but he’s gone down before the contact”.’
Rashford insisted there was contact with Fabianski, but United boss Jose Mourinho claimed that he did not see the incident.
Mourinho said: ‘I don’t have a view because I didn’t watch, and I have Marcus’s opinion and he said that the keeper touched him.’
It was another frustrating day for Mourinho, even though his United side extended their unbeaten Premier League run to a club record 25 games.
A chance to move into the top four was wasted with Swansea joining Hull, Bournemouth, Burnley, West Ham and Stoke in taking a point from Old Trafford. It was a deserved point, too. That record unbeaten run (in a single top-flight season) now includes 12 draws, nine of them at home.
Having put United ahead, Rooney had a chance to wrap up victory when Ander Herrera’s cross let him pick his spot from close range. Sadly, the spot Rooney chose was Anthony Martial’s backside.
Swansea had shown enterprise, not least when Fernando Llorente spun past Eric Bailly and forced a save from David de Gea, who then denied Jordan Ayew. And the Premier League strugglers drew level in the 79th minute with a trademark free-kick from Gylfi Sigurdsson.
United should have known what to expect from a man who had scored on his previous two visits to Old Trafford when Rooney brought down Marcus Olsson with a clumsy challenge 20 yards out.
It looked like they had a plan as Herrera dropped out of the wall and took up position by the near post. However, the Spaniard ran back into the wall when Llorente pushed into the space left by United’s now deep offside line and Sigurdsson duly despatched an exquisite shot to the exact point where he had been standing.
Swansea could even have snatched victory in added time but Llorente fluffed his effort. So United stay outside the top four and Swansea inside the bottom three, albeit with a valuable point in their battle for survival.
To add to Mourinho’s problems, Bailly and Luke Shaw limped off with what appeared to be ankle injuries, the latter inside seven minutes. ‘Shaw’s must be a big injury because to leave the pitch after 10 minutes I am expecting a very big injury,’ said Mourinho. ‘Maybe Eric’s relates to playing 800 minutes of football in April.’
Both defenders are set to miss Thursday’s Europa League semifinal first leg against Celta Vigo in Spain, as are Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. At least Paul Pogba should return and Juan Mata made the bench yesterday.
‘I prefer not to speak about Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, I prefer to speak about Juan Mata giving everything to be available. I am grateful for that,’ said Mourinho, who retained enough humour to warm up himself at one point.
But his frustration at the gruelling fixture schedule — this was United’s 57th game of the season compared to Swansea’s 38th — and persistent injuries has been palpable in recent weeks. Even the fans were not exempt from it.
‘We are exhausted,’ said Mourinho. ‘Did the supporters know it?