Premier League boss hit with FA charge for behaviour after Man Utd match

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Alvaro Arbeloa made controversial comments after watching his Fulham side narrowly miss out on a first Premier League win of the season against Manchester United earlier this month

Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association after he claimed that officials did not want Manchester United to lose against his side. The head coach's comments came after a 1-1 draw between the two teams at Craven Cottage on September 20.

United were poor in West London, going 1-0 down against the team that began the afternoon bottom of the top-flight. Michael Carrick's side ended up rescuing a point thanks to Matheus Cunha's deflected effort in the 89th minute.

And Arbeloa was left fuming after the fixture. The Spaniard was furious that, 35 seconds before United's equaliser, the Red Devils were given a free-kick for a foul on Harry Maguire on the halfway line.

The former Real Madrid head coach went on to accuse the referees of not wanting United to lose against Fulham because of the injustice Carrick's men faced in the Manchester derby seven days earlier. The incident saw Erling Haaland's goal incorrectly being allowed to stand despite City's Enzo Fernandez interfering with the build-up from an offside position.

Arbeloa felt this influenced refereeing decisions against his team. He said: > "All fouls for them. 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. 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."

Now, the FA have accused Arbeloa of acting improperly in his post-match comments. The governing body said: > "Alvaro Arbeloa has been charged with misconduct for comments made after the Premier League fixture between Fulham and Manchester United on Sunday, 20 September. > > "It is alleged that the Fulham manager acted in an improper manner by making comments in a post-match interview that imply bias and/or question the integrity of a match official. Alvaro Arbeloa has until Thursday, 1 October to provide a response."

Arbeloa appeared to attempt to temper his initial frustrations after the game against United.

The 43-year-old said: > "My English is not so good. 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."

Potential punishments for the ex-defender, if found guilty, include a fine and a touchline ban. Fulham return to action at Ipswich Town on October 10 (3pm).

United, meanwhile, take on Tottenham Hotspur later that day (5:30pm).

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