BREAKING: Premier League issue VAR explanation after Man Utd red card controversy vs Brentford

Nathan Collins escaped a red card during Manchester United's 3-1 defeat against Brentford at the G-Tech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Bees defenders fouled Bryan Mbeumo in the second half, pulling down his former teammate inside the box.

Shortly after pointing to the spot, Craig Pawson brandished a yellow card. The Video Assistant Referee, Andy Madley, and his assistant, Nicholas Hopton, reviewed the incident at Stockley Park, and they confirmed with the on-field decision.

An official statement from the Premier League Match Centre on X, formerly known as Twitter, reads: "The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Collins deemed to pulled Mbeumo back. VAR also checked the referee’s call of yellow card to Collins - and deemed that Mbeumo wasn’t in control of the ball."

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Bruno Fernandes, whose spot-kick was interrupted by a substitution, failed to draw United level. Then, in the dying embers of stoppage time, Mathias Jensen, who had replaced Igor Thiago, put the third and final nail in the coffin.

This weekend, United had the opportunity to win back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time since last year. Speaking to reporters ahead of the clash, Amorim said: "Yeah, it's really important, and we talked about that at the end of the game.

"It's really important for us to have that sense of urgency that we need to win no matter what, and it's going to be really difficult. Every time we start preparing the game and you watch the next opponent, you think, ‘It's going to be really, really tough’.

"I have that feeling. We cannot control the result of the game, but for me, the most important thing is to start the game the way we started against Chelsea, the way we started against Burnley, the way we started against Arsenal.

"These kinds of games, we need to be really focused and to have that feeling that we need to win every match."

Back in May, at the end of last season, Mbeumo was on the winning side when Brentford stormed past United at the G-Tech Community Stadium. The Cameroon international didn't get on the scoresheet, but he certainly caught Amorim's eye.

On whether that particular display convinced the United boss to sign Mbeumo, he said: "It was not that performance. But [it] helped me to understand that he's a very good player, not [just] with the ball, without the ball.

"And when you see that live, it’s completely different. When you see a guy doing that, with all due respect, it's not because he’s in Manchester United.

"He was in Brentford, he was sometimes defending as a right-back. So, that was really important to have that feeling live. And if I'm the owner of Brentford, I will do the same, to keep the best players and try to sell the best players for big amounts.

"So, I completely understand that situation."

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