Former Arsenal midfielder Kim Kallstrom has hit out at Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho over his “𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ish” behaviour against Copenhagen.
The Red Devils beat the Danish side 1-0 on Tuesday night to pick up their first win of the Champions League group stage after losing their previous two matches to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.
Alejandro Garnacho reacts to missing a chance.
Harry Maguire was one of the heroes as he headed in a Christian Eriksen cross to put Man Utd 1-0 up before Andre Onana pulled off a penalty save in injury at the end of the match to give Erik ten Hag’s side all three points.
Copenhagen forward Jordan Larsson saw his spot-kick saved by Onana – who replaced David de Gea at Old Trafford in the summer – but only after the cameras picked up Garnacho’s attempts to rough up the penalty spot.
The Argentina international was seen using both feet to try and scuff the penalty spot while referee Marco Guida was still dealing with the aftermath of the decision to award a spot-kick.
When asked for his opinion on Garnacho’s actions after the match, Man Utd boss Ten Hag replied: “I didn’t see it. The referee probably didn’t see it either. I don’t know.”
Copenhagen captain Victor Claesson was not impressed by what he saw from Garnacho and labelled it “unsporting” behaviour.
Claesson told Bold.dk: “I think that is unsporting. If he’s done it, he’s done it. I think that it is taking it too far, but we can also get better at playing a little more dirty here in the Champions League. You don’t get plus points for playing nicely.”
When asked if he believed it influenced the outcome of the penalty, Claesson did add: “I don’t think that was what decided whether he missed or scored.”
And former Sweden international Kallstrom – who played for Arsenal on loan in 2014 – was incredibly upset at Garnacho’s actions in the Man Utd win.
“What an ugly type,” Kallstrom said, as reported by Expressen. “Ahh, I don’t know… That’s so 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ish. It’s such a 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 level.”
But Ten Hag preferred to concentrate on Onana’s save with the Man Utd boss praising the Cameroon international for his last couple of performances.
Ten Hag said: “He showed personality and he knows that before was not the levels what his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s are. He didn’t match his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s and he could do better.
“I think Saturday (against Sheffield United) was a very good performance and today as well. Also, don’t forget that brilliant save just after half-time in the counter-attack.
“But, of course, that is one of his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s, he is a very good penalty saver.”
Source: football365.com
