David de Gea shared a notorious clip of Jose Mourinho on social media after Manchester United clung on to beat Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
A feisty affair at Old Trafford ended in a 2-1 victory for the hosts thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. United's second goal came moments before Casemiro was sent off for the Red Devils after grabbing Palace midfielder Will Hughes around the neck during a major fracas that involved numerous players from either team, marking the first time the Brazilian has been shown a straight red card in his career.
The dismissal came after a heavy challenge from Eagles wideman Jeffrey Schlupp on United winger Antony, which was the initial cause of the bust-up. De Gea appeared to hint he did not agree with the decision to send Casemiro off but only show Schlupp a yellow card as he posted an extract of an infamous Mourinho interview.
During the interview from nearly a decade ago, the charismatic Portuguese said: "If I speak, I am in big trouble, and I don't want to be in big trouble." Mourinho was being tight-lipped to avoid further sanctions after he was sent off in Chelsea's 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa back in March 2014.
At the time, Mourinho was in charge of the Blues and saw red - alongside Willian and Ramires - in the loss at Villa Park. Although Mourinho, who currently manages Roma, does not usually refrain from hitting out at officials if he disagrees with their decisions, he decided on that day that he would not go for the jugular in his post-match interview.
Like the legendary manager, whom he worked under at United, De Gea clearly felt the need to speak out after the decisions in the fixture against Palace. However, it seems he was keen to avoid a Football Association sanction, so he chose to simply post the clip of his former manager to make his point.
Meanwhile, United boss Erik ten Hag was furious with the officiating in his side's narrow victory, accusing referee Andre Marriner and his colleagues of not being consistent. "Casemiro crossed the line, you saw that," the Dutchman said.
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"However, I'm unhappy with the inconsistent refereeing, not only this game but also in Palace. They elbowed [Lautaro] Martinez and last week with [Christian] Eriksen. A lot of other players crossed the line, including some Crystal Palace players. VAR didn’t intervene with them."
Casemiro's red card leaves Ten Hag light of options in midfield, although Marcel Sabitzer's January arrival on loan from Bayern Munich will help the Red Devils cope. Casemiro will be suspended for two fixtures against Leeds and one against Leicester.
