Bruno Fernandes red card incident in Man Utd clash leaves Mike Dean furious at 'scared' referees

Mike Dean has delivered a bizarre outburst about referees following a contentious Bruno Fernandes red card incident. The Manchester United skipper appeared to receive an elbow to the face from Nilson Angulo during his team's stalemate with Sunderland , with Dean offering a peculiar explanation as to why it might have been overlooked. Paul Merson, who was covering the match for Sky Sports , said: "Fernandes gets the ball, he's got his head up and goes to play it. Angulo, who's come on, is running back and as he's running back he just gives him a little elbow in the face. It's not major contact, but he's meant to do it. I think this could be a red card." As the refereeing specialist on the panel, Dean interjected: "There's not a lot of force in it, but I don't understand why the player would run back and put his arm in and just put himself at risk." "I'm not sure what's happening - they've obviously had a look at it; they're not doing anything, they've just had a chat with Fernandes and check complete. You run the risk with VAR, that could have gone either way." Merson then remarked: "They didn't even book him, Mike." Dean strangely responded: "Well, it's May isn't it?" FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page Lead presenter Simon Thomas questioned: "What? It might be May for you but the referee's still got a job to do, hasn't he?" Dean went on to elaborate: "I'm just annoyed about decisions in games where they're just not making decisions. Fulham's a prime example today. Just a poor performance on the pitch. "They're just not making decisions on the pitch. Joking apart, May or not - that's an easy decision to make. We've had a penalty shout five minutes before with Man United, that could have gone either way, a challenge in another game, they're just not making decisions and I don't know why that is." Thomas then pushed further, asking: "Is that something they're going to have to address this summer?" Dean responded: "They're going to have to, because it's just not good enough. We were talking earlier off-air about it, it's easier to go red, make a big and brave decision and go red card, and everybody's happy if they [the decisions] stay on-field because it's a good decision. I think they're just scared of going red, they're just petrified." While United played out a 0-0 draw, both Fulham and Bournemouth had players dismissed for straight red card offences following VAR reviews. The Cherries went on to claim victory in their match, placing themselves in a strong position to secure Champions League football. Michael Carrick's side have already guaranteed a top-five finish. Injuries to Benjamin Sesko and Casemiro, which ruled them out of the match at the Stadium of Light, are not a major cause for concern. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us - and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're cu rious, you can read our Privacy Notice .