04 May 2023 , 21:59
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Gary Neville has been left with egg on his face after praising Luke Shaw before the Manchester United star's game-changing handball in the defeat to Brighton.
Shaw was once again named as one of United's centre-backs at the Amex Stadium and had enjoyed a solid game until injury time. But the Englishman conceded a penalty in the 96th minute when he stuck his arm in the air as he challenged to clear a ball in the box.
The ball struck his hand before the Red Devils were able to clear, with VAR Chris Kavanagh sending referee Andre Marriner to check the incident on the pitchside screen. Marriner subsequently awarded a penalty to the Seagulls, with Alexis Mac Allister stepping up to score.
That proved to be the winner, with Brighton deservedly taking all three points after an impressive performance. United legend Neville had pointed to Shaw's performance before the incident.
He tweeted: "How well is Luke Shaw doing at Centre Back." But the former Red Devils skipper admitted his mistaken analysis after Marriner had pointed to the spot, quote-tweeting his original post with "B***** hell!" along with the laughing emoji.
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Shaw himself was apologetic after the game, with United now two points behind Newcastle. But the defender insisted he had been pushed in the back as the ball came into the box, though pointed to attacking issues as the cause of United's downfall.
HAVE YOUR SAY! What went wrong for Manchester United against Brighton? Comment below.
Shaw gave away a penalty with this handball"Hands up, I own up to that. I take it on the chin. It was a mistake, but we weren't clinical enough in the first half. It hurts a lot. I can't explain why my hand is up there," he said.
"The problem is we don't score. That happened a lot of times this season. It comes down to the chance at the end but the game is different if we score the chances we make. I got a little nudge but the hand should not be there.
"I've got to take it on the chin. Even before the corner, the free kick before that was never a foul. I'm not looking for excuses for what I done but there is no way that should have been given as a foul."
United boss Erik ten Hag moved to defend Shaw after his side's gut-wrenching defeat. And the Dutchman also pointed the finger of blame at the Red Devils' attackers for failing to convert their chances.
"Luke Shaw played a great game. The free kick that led to the corner was never a foul. We had to score our chances. In the end we lost control, midfield was too open," the United boss added.
"This was really unlucky - it was a draw from my perspective. It is a lesson we have to take, we have to bounce back on Sunday. We have to finish our chances and not make mistakes in the last second."