Should this have been a red card? Manchester United have come away from Wembley with a 1-0 victory over Spurs this afternoon, extending interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's winning run to six games.
While David De Gea pulled off a number of excellent saves to secure the points for his side, you could not really argue with United getting the victory.
Paul Pogba was excellent once again today, looking completely different to the player we seen labour through the final few months of the Jose Mourinho era. He provided an incredible pass to play Marcus Rashford through for the opening goal of the game, and looked dangerous throughout.
But there was an argument to be made that Pogba should not have been on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes. He put in highly questionable challenge on Dele Alli with around 10 minutes to go, and on another day he certainly could have seen red.
The Frenchman appeared to be attempting to shield the ball, but he instead left the studs in on the Spurs man.While it could be argued that he did not intend to put in such a challenge, intent does not really matter, it is the action itself that needs to be considered.
The incident caused great debate in the Sky Sports Studio after the game, with the pundits holding opposing views.
Jamie Redknapp felt that the tackle was not deserving of a red, as he did not think it was intentional. He was of the opinion that Pogba was trying to shield the ball, and simply got it wrong. He compared to a similar incident from his own career, when he done the exact same thing to Tim Cahill. Redknapp received a three game ban for the tackle, but insists he did not mean it.
What he's trying to do is step across the ball to protect it. It looks horrendous don't get me wrong, it looks like he's gone right over the top of the ball. It's not malicious...
It looks like a red, but personally I don't think it is.
Grame Souness was on the other side of the argument. He felt that Pogba had indeed gone for the man, claiming that his foot was far too high to be simply attempting to shield the ball.
Sorry Jamie to disagree with you, but I think it is a red card, and there is not one ounce of doubt in my mind that he knew what he was doing.
I understand what Jamie is saying, you step over it and use your strength to keep the player away... but look where the ball is, look where the foot is.
When you're doing that, your studs are always aiming towards the ground.
When challenged by Redknapp as to whether he thought Pogba tried 'to do' Alli, the Scot doubled down.
Most certainly. I would also say that if the referee doesn't see that as a red card... if he sees that as a yellow card, then he knows nothing about football...
I have been guilty of that, and I have received that. For me there is not one ounce of doubt in my mind that that wasn't him going over the ball to do him.
Souness would certainly know a thing or two about taking out an opponent, as evidenced by this wonderful challenge during his time at Rangers.
Robbie Keane remained silent as the other two pundits went back and forth on the issue. When finally asked what he thought about Pogba's challenge, he took the opportunity to provide a bit of comedic relief.
I played in the game with Jamie when he did it, and I think Jamie did mean it to be honest with you!
Way to ease the tension Robbie. Keane did seem to agree with Souness in the end, saying that Pogba deserved to be punished for having his foot so high.
To be fair, the red card likely would not have changed the result. Spurs had the majority of the ball in the closing stages, but failed to show any sort of cutting edge when the chances fell their way.
