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Darren Fletcher has been officially charged with misconduct by the FA for his behaviour towards match officials during Manchester United’s 2-1 win against Brentford last weekend.
The charge relates to his furious reaction to Ethan Pinnock’s goal in stoppage-time in the first half, which put the Bees in front with United temporarily reduced to ten men, and his subsequent actions in the tunnel at half time.
United lined up to defend the 50th-minute corner shortly after bloodied centre-back Matthijs de Ligt was forced off the pitch by referee Samuel Barrott for treatment of a persistent head wound.
The Dutchman had already been withdrawn twice for treatment of the same issue but Brentford made his third absence count, Pinnock ghosting in for a free header which surely wouldn’t have been the case had De Ligt been on the pitch.
The United bench erupted with anger, with manager Erik ten Hag and his assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy each shown yellow cards for their protests, but Fletcher’s vehement objections continued beyond the half-time whistle.
As reported by The Daily Express, CCTV footage from the Old Trafford tunnel showed the Scot remonstrating angrily with Barrott, his assistants and fourth official Gavin Ward, and this has landed him in hot water with the FA.
The Peoples Person had relayed earlier this week that Fletcher was likely to face an FA charge, and this has been confirmed today.
A statement from the governing body, communicated via the FA Spokesperson X account, said: “Darren Fletcher has been charged with misconduct following Manchester United’s fixture against Brentford on Saturday, 20 October, in the Premier League.
“It’s alleged that the coach acted in an improper and/or confrontational manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official and the referee and/or assistant referees. Darren Fletcher has until Tuesday, 29 October, to respond.”
Despite raging at the interval, Fletcher and his coaching colleagues ended the game with a smile on their faces as United rallied to run out 2-1 winners.
A strong second-half display was lit up by a sumptuous goal from Alejandro Garnacho – delightfully assisted by a sweeping Marcus Rashford pass – and topped off by Rasmus Hojlund’s first league goal of the season to secure three points for the first time since mid-September.
The Reds travel to London to face West Ham on Sunday as they look for back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
