Premier League: furious reaction after red card for headbutt against Tottenham star in clash with Manchester United | Goal.com

Published on 10 Oct 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

The Uruguayan had only been on the pitch for ten minutes when he first nicked the ball from Luke Shaw with an extremely borderline flying tackle, then shortly afterwards floored him with a headbutt to the face.

Shaw had shoved Bentancur heavily in the back moments earlier. That sparked a physical melee and a whole host of cards.

Referee Stuart Atwell showed Bentancur a red card, a decision VAR Jarred Gillett confirmed based on his view of the footage: "He drives his head into Shaw quite forcefully - that is violent conduct. He gets up, goes towards Shaw and then there is a movement of the head."

Shaw, meanwhile, saw only yellow after angrily pushing Bentancur to the ground over the earlier challenge.

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Champions League

13 Oct 2026

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Premier League

19 Oct 2026

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Not everyone agreed with the decision. TV pundit Chris Waddle, who previously played for Tottenham, called for a red card for Shaw. "Luke Shaw crossed the line there and somehow holds his head as if he had been headbutted," said the 62-cap former England international. "If Rodrigo Bentancur gets the red card for that, Luke Shaw should get one as well."

Gary Neville focused on Bentancur's behaviour. The whole scene was "madness", the United legend said during the live commentary of the match. Referring to the long-suffering Spurs coach Roberto De Zerbi, Neville added: "Indiscipline was just what he needed. That scissor tackle is already a yellow, then he gets up and goes towards him, in the end that is always a red, especially after a tackle like that. It's just stupidity!"

By that point, in the 78th minute, Bentancur's Spurs were trailing 1-0 to a Bryan Mbeumo goal, even though they had been the more dangerous side in Manchester. Astonishingly, United completely lost their way with the extra man after that, and the visitors from London pushed for an equaliser, which Dominic Solanke duly scored in stoppage time.

"In the first half we completely dominated them. We weren't clinical enough in front of goal and should already have been leading by several goals at half-time," said Solanke. "But the character we showed after the sending-off was outstanding. We kept fighting until the last minute."

Thanks to their third point of the season from their third goal of the season, Spurs climbed from 20th to 18th, but they are still one of only three teams yet to win. For Champions League participants United, it remains one win from six matches and 12th place.

Elsewhere on Saturday, champions Arsenal, with Kai Havertz, came from behind to beat Daniel Farke's Leeds United 2-1. Xabi Alonso and Chelsea thrashed Marco Rose's AFC Bournemouth 5-1. A 2-0 win at AFC Sunderland kept Fabian Hürzeler's Brighton & Hove Albion, with Pascal Groß, right up there. Germany international Kevin Schade picked up a point for Brentford in a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa, but had to go off injured early in the second half.

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