STEVEN BRADLEY believes Dundee United ‘got away’ with one after Kieran Freeman escaped a red card at Livingston.
The United right-back was promptly hooked by manager Jim Goodwin after referee Matthew McDermid opted not to send him off for hauling back Cristian Montano in Wednesday night’s draw at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
Freeman was already on a yellow for clattering Andrew Shinnie, and he lasted just 33 minutes before Goodwin felt the need to protect from a red card. But Bradley, who scored his first Livi goal on the night, echoed manager David Martindale in suggesting United should not have been afforded the opportunity to spare the defender a suspension.
The visitors went on to claim a point via Aziz Behich’s second-half equaliser, leaving Livingston without a Premiership victory since February 4.
“Kieran Freeman should have been sent off for a second yellow,” Bradley insisted. “The Dundee United manager took him off, which tells you everything. By taking him off they got away with it.
“And there was a tackle on big Luiyi [de Lucas, by Sadat Anaku] which was questionable as well. At the time I thought that was definitely a red. With VAR it’s different and a bit confusing because you don’t always know what’s going on sometimes.
“It’s hard for refs because they have only seen what we’ve seen a lot of the time, but they have people talking in their ear now too. So it’s hard for them as well. Some decisions are always going to be debatable, that’s part of football.
“The negative thing with VAR I would say is the time it takes, you are left wondering for a while what’s going on and it could be speeded up a bit. If they make the right decision then they can take how long they want really.
“But it disrupts the flow of the game, although that can help you if you’re on the back foot - although not if you are on top of a team and want to go forward! So it has its pros and cons.”
