Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen believes that Casemiro did not need to make the challenge which led to him receiving a one-match suspension.
The Brazilian midfielder started against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night despite him being just one booking away from a suspension that would keep him out of the Arsenal clash at the weekend. Casemiro would receive his yellow card in the 80th minute when he brought down former United man Wilfried Zaha.
Discussing the booking after the match, Owen told Premier League Productions that the challenge on Zaha was needless because there was a player covering. The 43-year-old explained: "Yeah, he will be a massive loss.
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"You get away without Casemiro in certain games if they were playing at home to somebody next, a team outside the top four or five then it's not so bad. But when you play against the big boys, when you play against the best teams, you have to have absolutely everybody, all your best players fit and ready to go and that is a massive blow.
"He shrugged his shoulders as if to say he couldn't do anything but he could have. [Raphael] Varane was behind him, it wasn't an absolutely last ditch challenge and Ten Hag - you saw his reaction as well so that is a bitter blow. That last ten minutes was a nightmare for them, they lose one of their best players for a big game and they concede a goal and lose two points.
"You can't bring him off at 1-0 because it just goes to show they went and equalised, you can't risk bringing him off. So yeah, a disastrous ten minutes for Manchester United."
United's draw means they sit third in the table level on points with Manchester City. However, the Blues can extend their advantage over their rivals if they beat Tottenham on Thursday.
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