Marcus Rashford had to be sent off – he was petulant and had to walk

Manchester United forward was let off the hook by referee Rob Jones when he should have been punished

Marcus Rashford should have been shown a second yellow card for his challenge on Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey, and it was frankly baffling referee Rob Jones failed to apply the law correctly.
The only thing I can think of is that the first yellow – for a trip on Matty Cash – was soft, and Jones must have felt it would have been harsh to dismiss a player for those two offences. However, that should not be taken into account when judging a players’ actions – each action should be looked at in isolation – and Rashford’s trip of Bailey was petulant and should have been sanctioned. If there was any debate then that disappeared when Erik ten Hag rightly substituted the player to ensure he was not sent off the next time he committed a foul.
I say this while acknowledging that Jones is having a fine season and, to my mind, is now our third best referee behind Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor. He handles games well and does not seem to be overawed by the big occasion. That is why I’m surprised he did not act and correctly issue a second yellow card when Rashford’s frustration got the better of him.
Instead, it speaks to the fact that referees seem confused about what is and isn’t a yellow card at present. It used to be that a quiet word would do the job, but nowadays bookings are being thrown around like confetti. I watched a lot of European football this week and the standard of refereeing is on another level – much more calm and less interventionist than in the Premier League.
The stats bear this out, with there being 5.14 yellow cards per game in the Premier League this season. Spain’s La Liga has the second most with 4.43 and the Champions League is third on 4.11 per match. The French and German leagues, as well as the Europa and Conference Leagues, are even lower. Referees in England are too quick to issue yellow cards, and are inconsistent when they do so – in this case, within a couple of minutes.
We had a number of other strange decisions this weekend, with Crystal Palace particularly unfortunate, in my view, not to be awarded a penalty for Virgil van Dijk’s tug on Marc Guehi. But it is the inconsistency that so often grates, with Rashford on this occasion the beneficiary as he would have had no complaint if he had been sent off.