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Matheus Cunha furiously departed the field at full time of Manchester United's win against Roma, after an exchange with Michael Carrick. The Brazilian attacker had returned to the field to celebrate after being sent off in the final moments of the game. After jubilant scenes with his teammates, Cunha's mood then quickly changed following a few brief words with Carrick, who seemed to indicate he should leave the pitch.
The forward was then escorted towards the tunnel, along the sidelines. On multiple occasions, he furiously looked back in what appeared to be his manager's direction and shouted words, but he took a brief moment to enjoy the victory, applauding the crowd following his two goals on the night before heading down the tunnel.
Cunha helped spark a remarkable comeback after a dreadful first-half performance. United were woeful in the opening 45 minutes and went two goals down as Matias Soule and Donyell Malen got on the scoresheet.
It was a different story after half-time as a re-energised United fought back. Bruno Fernandes first stepped up from the penalty spot, before Cunha struck in the 83rd and 86th minutes.
The attacker burst into the crowd to celebrate amongst United's fans, but his time on the pitch was cut short minutes later.
An unnecessary challenge on Leonardo Balerdi saw Cunha pick up a second yellow card before being given his marching orders.
Carrick may have been correct to have concerns over Cunha returning to the pitch after the final whistle. IFAB Law 12 states that sent-off players must remain in the dressing room or spectator area until after the conclusion of the match.
However, this extends beyond the referee's whistle, and they must have left the field of play. Should a red-carded player return immediately, 'it constitutes an unauthorised pitch entry and misconduct'. Match officials can then report the incident, and it can result in extended match bans and UEFA Disciplinary fines for both player and club.'
United will hope that their positive result is not dampened by such action after a stunning turnaround at the Theatre of Dreams. Following the game, Youri Tielemans was asked if the comeback saved Carrick's job.
"That's a different question. The only thing we can do is stick behind him, fight for him and fight for the club," he told TNT Sports.
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"At the end of the day we are on the pitch and we need to show what we are capable of and tonight, especially in the second half, we showed what we can do and we turned up the gears.
"Let's hope this is a good turnaround for us and let's hope we can build on this."
Alan Shearer believes that Carrick must have fired a rocket into his United team at half-time.
"I said what can he do, I didn't know where he would start, and he must have started in the dressing room, and pointing at a few people telling them to be brave and courageous and move the ball quicker, and run in behind and they did all those things in the second half and got their reward by getting their win," the former Newcastle forward said.
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