Manchester United manager Marc Skinner believes Ella Toone was the victim of an exaggerated reaction after she was sent-off during a dramatic 2-1 win at Spurs.
After a slow first half, the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium burst into life in the last half an hour. United appeared to have seized control through Leah Galton, but Beth England scored a sensational solo effort to draw Spurs level.
In a pulsating finish, Spurs went 2-1 behind only seconds later when Molly Bartrip turned a teasing cross into her own net. In a fiery encounter, Ella Toone was then sent off for hitting out at Eveliina Summanen. United held out with ten players to move back to the top of the Women' Super League.
But Skinner believed Summanen's reaction was unnecessary and said he doesn't want to see that type of gamesmanship become prevalent in the women's game. He also admitted it could be time the women's game in England starts to introduce VAR to help the officials.
"The reality is there is no need to roll around holding your face," said Skinner. "My only gripe is she has held a part of her body that has not been touched.
"It's a foul and it's probably a yellow card after the foul from Tooney. We will look at the potential to appeal the decision. I don't want that (play-acting) to come into our game. It is just not a good sign from me.
"We all love Ella because she is herself. I want to see that fight from my team, it shows the fight and the commitment these players have for this club.
"We need to be looking at VAR. Anything that can help officials, sometimes they need help, we don't want to have a stand-off with officials every game. We have a responsibility as a league to make sure our officials can progress."
"We were slow in the first half, we needed to be quicker with our thought process," added Skinner. "It's an important win, if you attack and try to win the game, you'll win more than you lose.
"We knew at some point Tottenham would have to come out. We earned it, the players that came on made a real difference, it's important we found a way to win. After we come back (after the international break) we just have to be more clinical."
Meanwhile, Spurs manager Rehanne Skinner felt her team should have taken something from the game and said she was proud of the performance. England's goal lit up the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but they remain winless in the league since October.
"We showed belief and confidence from the first whistle to final whistle," she said. "And they (her team) kept battling to the final whistle. I was really proud of the performance. We had two great transfers in the window and that has helped us to move forward."
