Manchester United charged with failing to control players against Newcastle
- Published
Manchester United's players, led by Bruno Fernandes, remonstrate with referee Craig Pawson during the draw with Newcastle
Manchester United have been charged by the Football Association after their players surrounded referee Craig Pawson during Sunday's game against Newcastle.
United's players reacted angrily after Pawson disallowed a Cristiano Ronaldo goal during the 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.
The referee included the incident in his report on the match.
United "failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion", according to the FA charge.
The Manchester United players surrounded Pawson when he ruled Newcastle had not taken a free-kick before Ronaldo raced up to nick possession away from goalkeeper Nick Pope and tap into an empty net, believing defender Fabian Schar had rolled it to his team-mate.
However Pawson disallowed the goal, and booked Ronaldo as he led his team-mates' angry reaction to the decision.
The Football News Show: How should football deal with abuse of referees?
Manager Erik ten Hag also went straight to Pawson at the final whistle, and said afterwards: "I don't have a comment. I shared that with them. Everyone has seen it."
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, meanwhile, was certain Schar only touched the ball to Pope so he could take the kick.
"It was clear Fabian wasn't taking the kick and he was allowing Nick to do it," he said.
"Nick was waiting to deliver the free-kick. That would have been a very, very difficult decision to swallow."
After a weekend of high-profile figures confronting match officials, Ten Hag said at his news conference on Tuesday that his club had "always" accepted the referee's decision.
"I want to express that we have always accepted the ref's decisions and it is also quite normal you ask why in the moment," Ten Hag said.
"It was a curious incident and you ask as a team, why? My view is, quite quickly, you have to accept the ref's decision and move on.
"We are an example for amateurs, for youth and professional players. It's quite clear and we have to know our role.
"It was quite obvious the player touched the ball from Newcastle and our players took advantage of it. When you explain, it has to be quite soon."
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