Manchester United might have beaten Copenhagen, but one player has come in for heavy criticism
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho has faced heavy criticism for his actions during their Champions League win over Copenhagen on Tuesday night.
With the score 1-0 deep into stoppage time at the end of the game, referee Marco Guida awarded Copenhagen a penalty after Scott McTominay raised his boot high against Mohamed Elyounoussi. During the VAR check, players surrounded the referee, remonstrating over the foul - except for Garnacho.
Instead, the Manchester United winger was busy scuffing the penalty spot, attempting to make the surface more difficult to take a spot kick from. Andre Onana subsequently saved from Jordan Larsson, in what proved to be the last action of the match as the Red Devils won 1-0.
Maguire scored the winner for Manchester United (Image credit: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Copenhagen captain Viktor Claesson clearly didn't agree with Garnacho's behaviour, suggesting that while it likely didn't have an impact on Larsson's strike, it's not something he should have done.
"It's unsportsmanlike," Claesson told Danish outlet Bold. "It's not something I stand for or would do, but if he's done it, he's done it. I don't think that was what decided whether he missed or scored."
Former Arsenal forward Kim Kallstrom agreed. While working as a pundit for Swedish broadcaster TV4 Play, Kallstrom slammed the Argentine for his actions.
Garnacho was seen scuffing the penalty spot (Image credit: TNT Sports)
"What an ugly type..." Kallstrom said. "That's so childish. It's such a baby-level thing."
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Following their win, Manchester United have now moved to third place in Group A of the Champions League. Bayern Munich have won all three games and seem guaranteed to qualify for the knockout stages, but the second spot is still up for grabs.
Galatasaray are currently second with four points, United third with three, and Copenhagen are bottom with a solitary point. Each team still has three games remaining, however, with anything certainly possible.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
