Brighton 1-0 Man Utd: Luke Shaw disappointed with referee decision as defender makes ‘real’ Liverpool claim

Luke Shaw has said he was disappointed with referee Andre Marriner’s decision to award a free-kick against him in the latter stages of Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday, a foul he felt cost the Red Devils a point.

Shaw’s trailing arm caught Julio Enciso in the latter stages of injury-time at the Amex, with the scores level at 0-0. That free-kick resulted in a corner, from which Brighton were awarded a penalty.

It was Shaw’s flailing arm that brushed the ball inside the box and Marriner had no choice but to point to the spot, and Alexis MacAllister then coolly converted. Speaking after the game, Shaw admitted his error cost United but felt the referee made a mistake moments earlier.

“Yeah, of course it hurts a lot. Last minute, last action really,” he told Sky Sports. “I think I got a little nudge but the hand shouldn’t be there. I own up to it and take it on the chin. It cost us the game and it’s tough.

“I can’t even explain why my hand is up there,” he continued. “I said I got a nudge, maybe that helps with my arm going up but still it shouldn’t be there. I think even before the corner, the free-kick that was given away before that was never a foul.

“I’m not looking for excuses but there’s no way that should be given as a foul that leads to the corner before. For me, maybe that corner shouldn’t happen but I can’t change that.”

It was another game of two halves for United on Thursday, and the Red Devils created good chances in the first period but failed to deal with Brighton’s dominance after the break. Shaw suggested after the game that a lack of clinical finishing cost United on the south coast, before adding the team should have been ‘3-0 up’ at half-time.

“I know the problem, we know the problem. The problem is we don’t score,” claimed United’s no.23. “I think in the first half we have three or four big chances that we should be scoring and I think that’s happened a lot of times this season.

“We have to be scoring these goals and then the game is completely different if we score early on with the chances we make. It’s disappointing that I cost us a point in the end but I think if you look from the first half we maybe should have been up 3-0.”

The dropped points mean United remain four points clear of fifth-place Liverpool in the race for the Champions League spots, and Shaw said it’s now a ‘real chase’ given the form of Jurgen Klopp’s side in recent weeks.

“It’s still in our hands and I think we have to kick ourselves from the position we were in, we were obviously very comfortable,” he admitted. “Now, you could say there is a real chase and teams around us are picking up points. Of course, we still have one game in hand.”