Harry Maguire claims to be innocent, calls kick to Michy Batshuayi ‘natural reaction’

Harry Maguire pleads to be innocent as controversy emerged when he wasn’t given a red card for kicking Michy Batshuayi last night.

Last night Chelsea vs Manchester United was full of talking points while the Red Devils won the match against their Premier League rivals by 2-0, it had several controversial moments.

VAR once again became a victim of criticisms by the fans at the losing end, one of the prominent criticisms was when Maguire was spared by the officials and was not given a red card after kicking Michy Batshuayi.

Many fans accused VAR of being biased towards the visiting side, even Chelsea manager Frank Lampard thought that he would have been sent off, “Maguire should have got sent off, I think that’s quite clear,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “The first two definitely went against us.”

But Maguire spoke to defend himself in the post-match interview last night, where he termed it to be a ‘natural reaction’ while admitting he caught Batshuayi.

“I knew I caught him,” Maguire told Sky Sports. “But I felt like he was going to fall on me and my natural reaction was to straighten my leg, if he was to fall on me to hold him up.

“Obviously I’ve got studs on my boots and it probably looks worse than it does on TV but it was my natural reaction. It wasn’t a kick out, it wasn’t any intent or anything like that.

“It was just my natural reaction to straighten my leg and, if he was going to fall on me, just to hold him up. “I knew I did catch him and I knew at the time but I think it’s the right decision in the end.”

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Maguire added: “I apologised to him but it was nice that the referee saw sense.” he further added. Maguire scored the second goal of the game to seal the victory for Manchester United.