Man United players’ tunnel admission as Bournemouth star left raging – ‘Even they said’

Manchester United were held to a 4-4 draw against Bournemouth on Monday – and Cherries captain Adam Smith was frustrated at the some of the refereeing decisions at Old Trafford

Bournemouth captain Adam Smith fumed at referee Simon Hooper following Monday’s 4-4 draw against Manchester United and claimed his side were the victims of an injustice.

Smith was unimpressed after United were awarded a free-kick leading to Bruno Fernandes’ stunning equaliser. The Portugal international made it 3-3 as he arrowed in an inch-perfect shot from the edge of the box.

However, Bournemouth fumed as they didn’t think the free-kick should have been awarded in the first place. Smith was judged to have handled the ball after Fernandes tried to take it past him.

Speaking post-match, Smith admitted the United players told him it wasn’t handball and therefore the Reds shouldn’t have been awarded the free-kick in the first place.

“Even the United players said it wasn’t handball!” Smith told the Daily Mail. “As a defender I just do not know what to do any more. It’s one yard (away). It’s not even one yard, it’s right next to me!

“It’s hit this (the top of his sleeve). I thought this wasn’t handball any more? The ref didn’t even want to speak to me. Then he booked me after the goal because I went up to him. It’s really frustrating.”

After bemoaning about Hooper and the free-kick decision, Smith then fired a warning in United’s direction and said while there are signs of progress for Amorim, the Reds are still soft defensively.

“The move (switching from a back three to back four) is really tough to defend,” he said. “Mason Mount comes in, drops down deep, [Diogo] Dalot goes really high. Luke Shaw sometimes comes really high and wide.

“[Matheus] Cunha drops down. On the other hand on the counter you can really, really punish them. So maybe that’s why it was such a high-scoring game.”

Meanwhile, United were angered with the referee as they felt Antoine Semenyo should have been given a red card after appearing to grab Diogo Dalot’s throat in the first half. The Bournemouth man reacted after Dalot jumped into him as Semenyo went up for a header.

“It looked like he’s [Semenyo] giving him [Dalot] a clip in the face, but maybe it’s lower. It’s certainly a massive risk,” Gary Neville said while on commentary for Sky Sports.

“I can see why Semenyo’s snapped. Dalot bumped him while he’s in the air – it’s a bit naughty. He’s [Semenyo] gone for his [Dalot] neck but he just pulled back. Two yellow cards is the right decision.”

After going 4-3 in the game through Cunha, Bournemouth snapped back to level late on and deny United a second straight win. The Reds sit sixth in the Premier League table on 26 points from their 16 matches.