Manchster United’s boss, Louis Van Gaal has slammed one of his players, Chris Smalling and labelled him “stupid” after he was sent out with a red card in the first half of Manchester United’s 1-0 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, November 2, 2014.
The England international, which started the game at centre-back, picked got his first yellow card charging down Joe Hart’s goal-kick and later got the exit card after hacking down James Milner before the end of half-time.
Consequently, Manchester United had to play the remaining 52 minutes with 10 men and back four that comprises of Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Paddy McNair and Luke Shaw after Marcus Rojo also left the game after dislocating his shoulder.
Sergio Aguero eventually found his way into the net by firing home a 63rd minute goal which set the lead for City.
Van Gaal expressed his anger at Smalling as said the defender was guilty of failing to control his aggression, while hinting he had earlier warned the 24-year-old.
“In a derby you have to be careful – the second yellow card is a stupid yellow card,” Van Gaal told BBC Sport.
“The sending off is not one of those things. As a player you have to control your aggression. I didn’t see the first yellow but with the second, you know you already have a yellow, so have to handle it differently. I said that to the players.”
Manchester United have acquired 13 points from the first 10 Premier League games of the season, but Van Gaal is confident that his side are equal match to Manchester City and Chelsea after facing both in the space of a week.
“We are very close. You saw it against Chelsea and now against Manchester City. They are the two best clubs in this league and the difference is zero I think.”
Next up for United is a clash with Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday, November 8, 2014 as they look to close the four-point gap between themselves and Arsenal.
