Arbeloa accuses officials of shielding Manchester United after Fulham's late 1-1 draw

Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa has launched a blistering attack on the match officials following his side's 1-1 draw with Manchester United, accusing referee Michael Oliver and his team of being unwilling to let the visitors lose because of the controversy that surrounded last weekend's Manchester derby.

United rescue a point in stoppage-time drama

United rescued a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage after Matheus Cunha scored a deflected 89th-minute equaliser. But Arbeloa was incandescent that, just 35 seconds before the goal, United were awarded a free-kick for a foul on Harry Maguire on the halfway line.

The Fulham boss felt the free-kick conceded by Cesar Palacios for the challenge on Maguire was soft, and argued that Oliver and his officials handed "all fouls" to the visitors as a reaction to the "error in judgement" that incorrectly awarded Erling Haaland's Manchester derby winner at Old Trafford last weekend.

'They did not want Manchester United to lose'

"All fouls for them," Arbeloa told Sky Sports. "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 in all the matches so it was a difficult game. And we were unlucky."

Pundits back the Maguire decision

Analysing the incident on Super Sunday, former Manchester United defender Ashley Young said: "It's definitely a foul. Palacios isn't looking at the ball, he's straight into Maguire's back.

"I know he [Arbeloa] says Maguire is 100kg, but he's smart, he's waiting for the foul to be committed."

Former Fulham and Manchester United forward Louis Saha added: "It is. It might be soft, but that's where some players have experience, they use their body in the right way. In his position, he [Maguire] felt like he couldn't take the control so it was a clever piece of work from Maguire."

Bassey handball escape adds to the debate

Another flashpoint arrived just before United's equaliser, when Fulham defender Calvin Bassey was accused of handball after Lisandro Martinez's ball forward into the penalty area. VAR reviewed the incident but upheld the assistant referee's view that Bassey had his arm close to his body, even though the ball struck his hand.

"He did put his hand up," said Gary Neville on co-commentary. "The fact that the hand is close to the body might save him."

Saha added: "Its kind of a 50:50, you don't know now with the rules. It hits his hand. The natural instinct you have is to protect your face because you know you're going to be hit.

"It's different rules every weekend, we don't understand it. Some will blow, some will go on."