Man Utd charged with failing to control players in Newcastle draw

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Man Utd charged with failing to control players in Newcastle draw

Manchester United have been charged by the FA over the reaction of players to a disallowed Cristiano Ronaldo goal during Sunday’s Premier League draw with Newcastle.

Ronaldo had two would be goals chalked off during the match, with the first disallowed for offside. The second was more controversial, with confusion as to whether the ball was live or dead when Ronaldo latched onto what he thought was a free-kick taken by Newcastle defender Fabian Schar.

An FA statement reads: “It’s alleged that Manchester United FC failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the 49th minute.”

United have been given until Thursday to respond to the charge but face a potential fine.

Despite still chasing a goal, Erik ten Hag withdrew a visibly frustrated Ronaldo around 20 minutes from the end.

The 37-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been out of favour as a starter this season but was given the nod because Marcus Rashford, the player who eventually replaced him, had been unwell.

Ten Hag justified his decision by explaining it was to keep his forwards as fresh as possible, especially with fixture congestion and Anthony Martial already ruled out through injury.

“We have to cover four games in 10 days - and especially for the strikers I want to keep them fresh,” the Dutchman said. “I want to keep them all fresh, so we have to rotate there. We have some problems. Martial is not available in this moment so we have a player less.

“Then Rashy was under the weather, so he did not have energy for the whole game so we have to plan to cover for the four games because we want to win all the four games or at least get a result in all four games.”