Manchester United have been fined £6,000 by UEFA for ‘improper conduct’ after five players collected yellow cards in last week’s win over Granada.
Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Nemanja Matic were all cautioned by Portuguese referee Artur Dias in United’s 2-0 win in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final.
It means Shaw, Maguire and McTominay are suspended for the return leg at Old Trafford on Thursday evening, while Pogba is now one booking away from a one-game suspension in Europe.
UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body decided to mete out a four-figure fine to United that must be paid within 90 days.
Dias’s card-happy officiating was widely pilloried as Granada committed 14 fouls to United’s 12 but only received two yellow cards.
Uefa announces United have been fined €7,000 for the ‘improper conduct of the team’ in the first leg against Granada. #mufc pic.twitter.com/tGf5MyOPjH
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) April 14, 2021
Speaking after the game last week, Solskjaer referenced the cards and the suspensions as the only blot on his side’s copybook from the evening.
“It was not a perfect night. We got three yellow cards and three suspensions [but] 2-0 is very good result,” he said.
“We know how difficult it is to come to Spain. It’s created a good starting point for next week’s game – then we’ve got to play well to get a result.
“We want to win every game – football catches you so quickly if you rest. We can’t have any other approach. It’s still a young team, a learning team, and we have to improve all the time.”
Solskjaer’s side are in a strong position after Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes scoring during last Thursday’s first leg at the Estadio de Los Carmenes.
They followed that result up with Sunday’s 3-1 Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur and are strong favourites to advance to a semi-final with either Ajax or Roma.
Roma won 2-1 in Amsterdam last week to gain the advantage in that quarter-final tie.
