Mike Dean reveals who is to blame for Man Utd conceding after De Ligt's nasty injury

Mike Dean has revealed who is to blame for Manchester United conceding after Matthijs de Ligt’s nasty injury against Brentford.

De Ligt, Erik ten Hag and the United fans were left furious when Ethan Pinnock netted the opener for Brentford on the brink of half-time.

It came while United only had 10 men on the pitch, with De Ligt stood on the sidelines waiting to come on.

The Dutch defender had blood pouring from his head having already received treatment for the injury twice before.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, former Premier League referee Dean suggested the officials can’t be blamed, but instead, the fault lies with the medical team.

Dean said: “There is no fault whatsoever from the match officials. Once he is bleeding, he cannot stay on the pitch.

“He tried his hardest to wipe the blood on his shirt because his shirt was red and he thought he was going to get away with it. It was all over his face.

“The referee has got no choice but to send him off to get treated, and lo and behold, they go and score. You can’t blame the ref, you blame their medical team for not stopping the bleeding.”

The goal didn’t prove fatal for United, who turned things around in the second half to secure their first Premier League victory since the start of September.

But it didn’t stop Ten Hag from airing his frustrations at full-time, saying: “We were very angry at half-time because we were controlling the game.

“I can’t understand why Matthijs was sent off [to be treated]. It was dry blood so he was already treated for the injury.”

While he might’ve been angered by the referee’s showing, Ten Hag would’ve taken a huge sigh of relief at the full-time whistle when the three points were confirmed.

However, at one point during Saturday’s action, United were the team with the fewest total goals in the entire Premier League - a sign there’s still plenty of work for the Red Devils to do.

Things don’t get much easier for them next time out though, as a trip to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce awaits in the Europa League.

After back-to-back draws in their opening two matches, United are still without a victory in this year’s competition, making Thursday’s game somewhat of a must-win in the Turkish capital.