Potter blasts ref for Dunk red card

BRIGHTON boss Graham Potter criticised the decision to send off his captain Lewis Dunk at Old Trafford last night and felt Manchester United’s players put pressure on the match officials. Referee Peter Bankes initially showed Dunk a yellow card for hauling down Anthony Elanga early in the second half, but he was surrounded by angry United players and changed his mind after VAR official Jarred Gillett advised him to look at the pitchside monitor. Potter argued it wasn’t a clear goalscoring opportunity because Adam Webster was covering behind Dunk. ‘That is what I saw,’ he said. ‘It was a yellow card live. Webster was there on the cover. It’s not clear and obvious that he wouldn’t get there. I don’t understand the intervention. ‘I’d like to see some stats, because as soon as the referee goes to the monitor it is only going to go one way, and that’s how it is.’ Asked about the actions of United’s players, he added: ‘I think you’re asking the question, so you are answering it. ‘I don’t blame them. I’m not being critical. You expect that reaction — they have got to do their bit for their team. ‘Then you need the referee and VAR to make calls independent of external pressure which isn’t easy. We were the better team first half. But we didn’t start the second half well enough, and we got punished by a world-class finish from a world-class player and a controversial red card.’ United’s interim manager Ralf Rangnick paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portugal star fired United towards an important win with his first goal in seven games. The six-match drought was Ronaldo’s worst run for 13 years stretching back to his first spell at United, and he has cut a frustrated figure in recent weeks. ‘Not only an important one but an amazing goal and overall it was a good performance by Cristiano,’ said Rangnick. ‘Energetically, he was always trying to help his team-mates, and I think in the last weeks it was definitely the best performance by him. ‘We should have killed off the game much earlier. It should have been 3-0 or 4-0 and, again, we were not quite lethal enough in those moments.’ Victory saw United leapfrog West Ham into fourth place and David de Gea admitted that is the minimum they should be aiming for. ‘We should be fighting for more things than the top four, but that is the reality,’ said the United goalkeeper.