Manchester United's Matheus Cunha questioned a controversial offside decision after his side drew 1-1 with Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday. The result extended Leeds' unbeaten run to seven games while Manchester United, playing with eight senior players absent, moved to fifth place.
Brenden Aaronson opened the scoring for Leeds in the 62nd minute before Cunha equalized just three minutes later, assisted by substitute Joshua Zirkzee. The draw left both sides with mixed feelings about the outcome.
Controversial offside decision
Cunha's first-half volley was ruled offside due to Benjamin Sesko being deemed to interfere with play. The Manchester United forward expressed frustration with the call after speaking to the referee.
«Honestly, I don't understand,» Cunha told TNT Sports. «I talked to the referee and I asked him 'who was offside?' and he said Ben [Sesko] I think, but I don't remember him participating in the action. It was Casemiro who gave the ball to me and then I shot, so I'm not sure where Sesko is. For me, it was a little bit frustrating.»
Cunha praised Zirkzee's impact after the Dutch player provided the assist for the equalizer. «Josh is a pleasure to play with him, he has a lot of quality. His situation is not good but he has the quality to change it,» Cunha said. «After the goal last week and the assist today he will have more confidence to be with us and do his role.»
Leeds' historic resurgence
Leeds' unbeaten run now stands at seven games, their longest since November 2001. The result leaves them eight points clear of the Premier League relegation zone after 20 matches, a position manager Daniel Farke described as unthinkable a month ago.
Despite the positive run, Farke expressed disappointment at not securing all three points. «First of all I have to say I'm proud of the lads because it was of course tricky circumstances for us. We had to go over the line two and a half days ago to get a hard-earned clean sheet (at Liverpool),» he said. «And then without several key players for today to face a side of the calibre of Man Utd.»
«Perhaps this says also a lot – if you are seven games unbeaten on Premier League level as a newly-promoted side and are even disappointed with just a draw against Man United, (with) many key players missing,» Farke added. «But I can't help myself. This feeling is there. I think it was definitely possible to win this game.»
Injury crisis eases for United
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim provided hope for the upcoming fixture against Burnley on Wednesday. Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount could return after missing the Leeds match with injuries.
«Just focus on the game, let's prepare with what we have, I expect to have some minutes with Bruno, Mason Mount, maybe, we'll see, so we have two more, with their quality, players ready to help us,» Amorim said. Fernandes has been out with a thigh problem since December 21, while Mount was forced off against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
Amorim expressed satisfaction with his side's performance despite the injury crisis. «We controlled more the possession, the connection, the position of the players,» he said. «We had more chances than the opponent to score, but we need to not to think about the next one.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
