'They wouldn't let them lose' – Alvaro Arbeloa accuses referees of bias towards Manchester United after Fulham late blow

Arbeloa did not hold back in his assessment of the officiating following Fulham's 1-1 draw with Manchester United, suggesting that the refereeing team was influenced by the fallout from the recent Manchester derby. The Cottagers appeared to be heading for a famous victory until Matheus Cunha's deflected 89th-minute strike spared United's blushes.

However, Arbeloa was left fuming over the sequence of events leading up to the goal, as referee Peter Bankes awarded United what the Fulham boss deemed a 'soft' free-kick on the halfway line following a challenge by Cesar Palacios on Harry Maguire just 35 seconds prior to the equaliser. The Spaniard claimed the officiating crew gave 'all fouls' to United as a reaction to the controversy surrounding Erling Haaland's incorrectly awarded winner at Old Trafford the previous weekend.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Arbeloa suggested that the officials were making amends for the controversial winner Erling Haaland scored for Manchester City against United last weekend. 'All fouls for them,' Arbeloa said. 'You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire, he's a guy who is 100 kilos. Every decision was for them. And I knew. After the game against Man City that they [would not] let Manchester United lose here. We deserved a little bit more. We were so close. So, so close. We were a little bit unlucky again. We knew it would be difficult against this big team. Also we knew what happened last week. We have seen what the referees have been doing all the match so it was a difficult game. And we were unlucky.'

By the time Arbeloa reached his post-match press conference, the Fulham boss - who took charge of the club this summer following his exit from Real Madrid - appeared to realise the weight of his earlier accusations.

'My English is not so good,' Arbeloa admitted to reporters. 'Maybe I explain myself so bad and I prefer not to say anything about the referees because you never know. When you say something that you don't have to say, it's better to stay calm, focus on the performance of my team and focus on the next game. I'm not really happy. Like I said, I need to be focused and put my energy in all the things that I have to improve. [Maguire] is a very big guy and maybe it wasn't a foul. But it's ok. Like I said, I prefer to analyse the game - players, systems and it's the best for win. You know when you draw a game like that, maybe you're a little bit frustrated.'

While Arbeloa felt his side were hard done by, former Manchester United captain Ashley Young disagreed with the assessment that the foul on Maguire was nonexistent. Young argued that while Maguire used his physical presence effectively, the contact from Cesar Palacios was illegal. 'It's definitely a foul,' Young told Sky Sports. 'Palacios isn't looking at the ball, he's straight into Maguire's back. I know he [Arbeloa] says Maguire is 100kg, but he's smart, he's waiting for the foul to be committed.'

Louis Saha, who represented both clubs during his playing career, echoed the sentiment that experience played a major role in the incident. He noted that Maguire was clever in how he positioned himself to invite the contact from the Fulham man. 'It is. It might be soft, but that's where some players have experience, they use their body in the right way. In his position, he [Maguire] felt like he couldn't take the control so it was a clever piece of work from Maguire,' Saha said when asked if it was a foul.

The 1-1 draw does little to ease the pressure on either side in the Premier League table. Michael Carrick's men at least avoided a third defeat in a grueling week, but they head into the international break stuck in 12th place - having collected just five points from their opening five matches, matching their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign set in 2014-15.

For Fulham, the point keeps them 19th with just two points, remaining winless and only ahead of bottom-placed Tottenham on goal difference. Both sides will now look to regroup during the international break, with Fulham travelling to face Coventry City on October 10, while Manchester United host Tottenham at Old Trafford on the same day.