Arbeloa claims referees 'would not let United lose' after Fulham's late equaliser at Craven Cottage

Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa alleged that referees were determined to protect Manchester United from defeat after Matheus Cunha’s deflected 89th-minute effort cancelled out Lisandro Martinez’s own goal in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Fulham had led since the 63rd minute when Martinez turned the ball into his own net, only for United to snatch a point in stoppage time as Cunha’s effort deflected past Bernd Leno. The draw lifted Fulham out of the bottom spot, moving them into 19th place above Tottenham on goal difference.

Arbeloa pointed specifically to a free-kick awarded to Harry Maguire near the halfway line just 35 seconds before United’s equaliser, arguing that every marginal call had gone the visitors’ way. “You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire — it’s a guy who is 100 kilos,” he said. “Every decision was for them and I knew after the game against Man City that they would not let Manchester United lose here.”

The Fulham head coach was drawing a direct line to last weekend’s Manchester derby, in which Erling Haaland’s winning goal was incorrectly allowed to stand. Professional Referee Organisation body Pro Ref subsequently issued an apology to United, and VAR assistant Matt Donohue was stood down for this round of fixtures.

Despite Arbeloa’s frustration, neither referee Peter Bankes nor the VAR team made any particularly contentious interventions during Sunday’s match, and both sides squandered chances in what was at times a sluggish contest.

Fulham’s next fixture comes after the three-week international break, when they travel to Portman Road to face newly promoted Ipswich on Saturday, 10 October.