A miserable night for Southampton.
For Jan Bednarek, it was tougher going than most.
With an injury-ravaged squad, Southampton were already up against it before a ball had been kicked at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. That in mind, they could’ve really done without 19-year-old Alex Jankewitz getting a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Scott McTominay with barely a minute played.
United subsequently ran riot, ending up with a 9-0 win.
To compound a thoroughly miserable evening for Southampton, they even had Bednarek sent off towards the end, after he was adjudged to have brought Anthony Martial in the area in an incident not too dissimilar to the controversial dismissal of David Luiz against Wolves a couple of hours earlier.
Mike Dean was urged to look at the incident which led to the penalty and sending off on a pitch-side monitor, eventually ruling Bednarek had to go.
The defender, who also scored an own goal in the first half, was clearly frustrated at the decision. As he made his way to the dressing room, he was heard saying that even Martial had acknowledged it shouldn’t have been a foul, let alone a sending off.
“It’s not a foul, Martial said it’s not a foul,” Bednarek could be heard saying as he entered the Old Trafford tunnel.
"Martial said it's not a foul!"
Jan Bednarek was not happy with the decision that saw him sent off 👀 pic.twitter.com/GxhGv8ncu1
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 2, 2021
Bednarek and James Ward-Prowse urged Martial to talk with Dean, but he waved the Saints duo away. The defeat saw United equal the record for the joint-highest win in the Premier League.
For those that had Jan Bednarek in their fantasy teams, it was a tough, tough watch:
Though defeat was perhaps inevitable for Southampton prior to the game, the suspension of Bednarek will make their next game all the more complicated.
“We tried to keep a clean sheet in the second half for as long as possible,” said Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl. “To concede nine goals again, I can take it. We stepped up after the first one [their 9-0 home loss to Leicester, last season] and will step up after the second one.”
