The Premier League referee who took charge of Manchester United’s FA Cup third round win over Arsenal last weekend will be back in action for the second time since that game, when he takes charge of Liverpool’s trip to Brentford on Saturday.
Andy Madley was the man in the middle for the FA Cup third round clash between United and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and the game wasn’t without controversy. With United winning 1-0 through Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot was shown a second yellow card, reducing Ruben Amorim’s side to 10-men.
The Gunners quickly took advantage of that, scoring their equaliser just two minutes later. It looked like it was going to get worse for United when the referee awarded a controversial penalty to Arsenal.
With no VAR in use until the fifth round of the competition, the on-field decision remained, despite protests from players. Martin Odegaard stepped up, but Altay Bayindir denied him from the spot.
The game eventually went to penalties with United coming out victorious. After the game, United’s official social media account simply wrote: “Justice,” seemingly referring to the penalty incident.
United legend Rio Ferdinand also posted, writing: “Another battling performance… desire, willingness to fight as a team! Bet the ref’s gutted.”
Harry Maguire, who gave away the penalty, also pointed to the lack of VAR. Speaking after the game, he said: “At the time when he gave it … my initial instinct was that it will be all right, VAR will turn it over and then I clicked on in my head that VAR could not intervene. So that’s when my head went a little bit.
“He [Madley] probably looks back … he knows he got it wrong. That’s why we have VAR because in the big moments, we need them correct and it’s a
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