Owen Hargreaves has slammed Manchester United midfielder Casemiro for his role in Burnley’s equalising goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
A goal from Antony gave United a narrow lead after 79 minutes but the hosts let all three points slip yet again when Zeki Amdouni slotted home his penalty with three minutes of the game left.
In a bizarre phase of play, Brazil international Casemiro attempted to nod the ball back to goalkeeper Andre Onana, with his looping header causing havoc in the box.
Onana charged out of goal in an attempt to punch the ball clear but instead took out Amdouni.
Prior to that calamity, the Cameroon international had been enjoying a fine game, making a string of crucial stops to keep the Clarets at bay – including a marvellous reaction stop to deny Lyle Foster from close range.
In assessing the penalty incident, former United midfielder Hargreaves insisted Casemiro was just as culpable, describing his decision to not clear the ball to safety late on in the match as ‘unbelievable’.
‘That header from Casemiro is unbelievable, I don’t know what he is thinking,’ Hargreaves told Premier League Productions.
‘Onana comes out and yes, he clatters into Amdouni but the header from Casemiro, it is just not on. At that stage of the game.
‘Onana is going to get criticised but he kept them in the game, He made some big saves today.’
Christian Eriksen meanwhile lamented his side’s inability to hold onto a lead, having now dropped points from a winning position in five of their last seven games.
‘We had the three points in our hands going into the last minutes of ordinary time. We should be able to keep a clean sheet and get the win,’ Eriksen said.
‘I still think there could be some bits that could be better [in my own performance].
‘I made a few decisions that could be better, putting my teammate or myself in a better area around the pitch.
‘But I’m trying to do my best and like you said, I haven’t had as much game time. When you’re playing, you have to do your best and that’s what I’m trying to do.’
