Matheus Cunha, the Manchester United player, will not face any punishment from the European Football Association (UEFA) for not going directly to the locker rooms. After receiving a red card late in the match in which his team defeated Italian club Roma in the Champions League.
Manchester United achieved a valuable victory over its guest, Roma, with a score of 3-2, on Tuesday, after overcoming a 0-2 deficit in the match, as the Brazilian international player caused a penalty kick, which was scored by his Portuguese colleague Bruno Fernandes in the second attempt.
Cunha had scored the equalizer, then scored the fatal winning goal in the last moments, earning a yellow card after taking off his shirt to celebrate the goal and jumping among the Old Trafford fans.
Shortly afterwards, Cunha received a second yellow card for a violent challenge, and then tried to stay to watch the remainder of stoppage time before celebrating with his teammates, despite the rules requiring him to leave the pitch and the surrounding area immediately.
Michael Carrick, Manchester United's technical director, indicated to Kunya the need to head towards the tunnel leading to the dressing rooms.
UEFA confirmed that the English team player will only be subject to a one-match suspension, which will be against Portuguese Sporting Lisbon later this month, without imposing any additional, more stringent penalties.
A UEFA spokesman said: “The official reports of the European Union did not include any reference to this incident.”
The spokesman added in his statements: “Accordingly; The automatic one-match suspension penalty resulting from receiving two yellow cards will not be extended for this behaviour. We will not conduct any further investigation in this matter.”
And with this; Cunha became the first player in the history of the Champions League to cause a penalty kick, score a goal, and be expelled from the match at the same time.
Carrick spoke about Cunha, saying: “He is capable of doing such things. He has special moments of brilliance.”
He continued: “We changed his position at halftime, as he exchanged roles with Brian (Mbeumo) to move deeper into the field. “This gave us a different tactical look with his presence in the heart of the field.”
“Kunya was found in distinct locations,” Carrick stressed. I'm disappointed in the way his post ended, but it shows how much he cares and is willing to give it his all. “When he is in this state of mind and mood, he gives a performance that justifies why he is here with us.”
It is noteworthy that Manchester United raised its score with this victory to 6 points in 17th place temporarily until the end of the rest of the matches of that round, by achieving two victories, while suffering two losses.
German Alexander Zverev began his journey at the top of the world tennis rankings with a surprise loss to Italian Lorenzo Musetti, on Wednesday, in the second round of the 1000-point Paris Masters Championship, in two sets to none, with a score of 7-6 (7-5) and 6-2.
Zverev topped the world rankings on Monday, the culmination of a distinguished season during which he won the first two titles in his career at the “Grand Slam” tournaments, after winning the French Open and the US Open.
Although the match was played on a hard, fast indoor floor, conditions that are compatible with the German player's powerful serve and his attacking groundstrokes, Zverev seemed far from his usual level against his Italian opponent, who imposed his superiority and ended the confrontation with an ace.
Muzzetti excelled in the number of winning shots by 29 compared to 25 for Zverev, and he also committed only 12 unjustified errors, compared to 21 errors for his German opponent, in a confrontation that witnessed clear control by the Italian, especially during the second set.
In another match in the second round, American Frances Tiafoe, seeded seventh in the tournament, wasted four chances to decide the match, before losing to Frenchman Quentin Hales with a score of 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (11-9).
The loss of Tiafoe, who had previously reached the semi-finals of the US Open three times, contributed to ensuring the qualification of Frenchman Arthur Viss to the final tournament of the season, becoming the first French player to reach these competitions since his compatriot Gael Monfils in 2016.
