Manchester United star admits referee Anthony Taylor helped them in clash with Arsenal

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 9: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United scores 1st goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on March 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Manchester United players speak to Anthony Taylor (Image credit: Getty Images)

Manchester United were helped out by referee Anthony Taylor during their drew 1-1 with Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Bruno Fernandes smashed home a free-kick in first-half stoppage time to give Manchester United the advantage in the game, but Declan Rice equalised midway through the second half to ensure the spoils were shared.

That result means Manchester United are now 14th in the Premier League, while Arsenal have lost even more ground to Liverpool in the title race. Things could have looked a whole lot different, however, if Anthony Taylor didn't provide an advantage to the Red Devils.

Anthony Taylor Premier League referee Manchester United Arsenal

Premier League referee Anthony Taylor (Image credit: Getty Images)

Measuring out the distance of Arsenal's wall for the free-kick Fernandes scored from, Taylor walked too far and positioned the Gunners 11.2 yards away from the ball, rather than the regular 10 yards.

Gary Neville mentioned in commentary during the game that the wall looked excessively far back from the ball, and Christian Eriksen even stated after the match that Taylor had helped with the goal.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 9: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United scores 1st goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on March 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Fernandes scores his free-kick (Image credit: Getty Images)

"Very good, happy that the wall was about 15 metres away," Eriksen responded when asked about the goal. "You saw how far back they were and it was beneficial for us. We felt relief from the fans in the stadium after the goal."

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had no issues with the goal, however, simply suggesting that Fernandes had taken advantage of the situation.

"He's been smart and he took advantage, that is football," he told Sky Sports. "He's been smarter than the ref. That's OK, they allowed him to do it."

Declan Rice, who stood in the Arsenal wall, highlighted that he felt the distance seemed too far during real-time.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 9: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United scores 1st goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United FC and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on March 9, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)

Eriksen believes Man United received a favour (Image credit: Getty Images)

"It felt like a couple of us jumped and some of us didn't, but I've not seen it back," he told Sky Sports. "It felt like the ball flew over us at quite a low height so, from the wall's perspective, we could have done a lot better.

"The wall did feel far back. Even on our free-kick, when Martin [Odegaard] took it, they felt far back as well, more than usual. But the referee makes that decision."

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.