Harry Maguire to Miss Chelsea Match Due to FA Misconduct Charge
Harry Maguire will miss Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea, with his Football Association misconduct charge set to stand and a one-game ban and fine coming his way.
The punishment stems from Maguire’s reaction after being sent off at Bournemouth. The 33-year-old was dismissed by referee Stuart Attwell for denying a goalscoring opportunity to Evanilson, and then swore at fourth official Matt Donohue as he left the pitch. He has already served an automatic suspension in Monday’s 2-1 home defeat to Leeds United, but the FA has moved separately on his behaviour after the red card.
The charge, issued on April 1, alleged Maguire “acted in an improper manner and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards the fourth official following his dismissal.” The governing body has now decided that crosses the line.
For Michael Carrick, the timing could hardly be worse.
Martinez appeal unlikely to save United
Maguire’s absence comes just as Lisandro Martinez faces his own spell on the sidelines. The Argentina international is expected to be banned after his sending off against Leeds, when VAR John Brooks advised referee Paul Tierney to review a hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
United have appealed, arguing Martinez did not pull with force and was genuinely challenging for the ball. PGMO, though, are understood to be confident the decision followed the laws to the letter.
Referees reminded clubs before the season that hair pulling would be treated as violent conduct. That guidance has already been tested this campaign: Everton defender Michael Keane was penalised for pulling the braided hair of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Tolu Arokodare during a 1-1 draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Howard Webb, the head of PGMO, underlined the stance on a recent episode of Mic’d Up, the Premier League’s in-house review show for key refereeing calls.
“For some years now, actions where players have pulled an opponent’s hair is deemed as violent conduct,” Webb said. “It is in the guidance we give to clubs before the season starts, the book that the Premier League produces, that grabbing someone’s hair with force is deemed as violent conduct and a player will be sent off.”
There is a slim chance Martinez’s standard three-game ban could be reduced, but that outcome is viewed as unlikely. United declined to comment on either case.
Young pairing thrown into the deep end
All of this leaves Carrick staring at a defensive reshuffle for a pivotal night at Stamford Bridge. With Maguire suspended, Martinez facing a ban and Matthijs de Ligt still not ready to return from a back injury, United are poised to turn to youth at the heart of their defence.
Leny Yoro, 20, and Ayden Heaven, 19, are in line to form a raw centre-back partnership against Chelsea. Talented, yes. Tested at this level, in this kind of fixture? Not yet.
The stakes are high. United sit third, Chelsea sixth. Victory in west London would give Carrick’s side a commanding grip on a Champions League place. Lose, and the gap shrinks to four points, with the chase very much back on.
For United, the disciplinary fallout has arrived at exactly the wrong moment. For Yoro and Heaven, it could be the night their careers accelerate under the Stamford Bridge floodlights.
