Manchester United have been charged by the FA for improper conduct following Saturday evening's 1-1 draw against Premier League rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
United players are accused of not conducting themselves in an "orderly fashion" after complaining about referee Stuart Attwell's decision to award Chelsea a penalty. Jorginho scored the 87th-minute spot kick before Casemiro headed in a last-gasp equaliser.
Scott McTominay was judged to have shoved Armando Broja to the ground, which led to several players - including Fred, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof - questioning Attwell's decision. It's now been perceived that United may have crossed the line with their protests.
The Red Devils are alleged to have breached rule E20.1 by the FA. Erik ten Hag's side have until Friday to respond to the charge.
"Each Affiliated Association, Competition and Club shall be responsible for ensuring that its Directors, players, officials, employees, servants, representatives, conduct themselves in an orderly fashion whilst attending any Match and do not use words or otherwise behave in a way which is improper, offensive, violent, threatening, abusive, indecent, insulting or provocative," reads the FA's rule book.
It's unclear what United's players said to Attwell in the heat of the moment. Fred was the only United player to be booked by the referee during the incident.
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Attwell's decision to award a penalty divided opinion, although former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes his ex-colleague made the right call. "He just holds on to him for too long and doesn't let go," Gallagher told Sky Sports.
"He grabs him and holds on and doesn't let go until he is on the floor. I think the referee has no choice but to give a penalty. There's always going to be physical contact, but the referees are looking for shirts being stretched or how long people are holding on to players."
Gary Neville, meanwhile, criticised McTominay for grabbing Broja. "It’s clumsy from McTominay," Neville told Sky Sports. "There’s no doubt that at the end [Broja] throws himself to the ground but there is initial contact. It’s that left arm, then it’s the right arm.
"I think that’s the problem for McTominay. He may feel like he’s not brought Broja down but optically it looks terrible. He looked like he was hugging him and pulling him to the ground. There’s a way to stop people going across you as soon as you put your arm or two arms on someone you’re in trouble."
Unsurprisingly, Bruno Fernandes believes it wasn't a penalty. "I said to the referee that in the Premier League this kind of contact is every game," Fernandes told Sky Sports. "I didn’t see it, I can’t say if it was right or not. Scott said he was not holding him. I don’t know."
United will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Thursday evening when they take on Europa League rivals Sheriff at Old Trafford. Their next Premier League fixture is against West Ham on Sunday afternoon, with that game also being played on home soil.
