Juan Mata says red card decision during Manchester United defeat was 'rigorous'
The Spaniard was sent off for the first time in his career as Manchester United lost 1-0 to West Brom
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Your support makes all the difference.Juan Mata has described the two bookings that led to the first red card of his career during Manchester United's 1-0 defeat to West Brom as "rigorous".
However, the Spaniard says he takes responsibility for his dismissal and that he will learn from it.
Mata was sent off in the first half at the Hawthorns when he was booked twice in the space of three minutes. The first was for blocking Darren Fletcher's free-kick and the second was for tripping the former Manchester United player.
"I have the feeling that both decisions were rigorous; that, in many occasions, we see more serious fouls that are not penalised in such a way, but at the same time I could have avoided them and I take responsibility," Mata wrote in his blog for Kicca.com.
Manchester United were forced to play with 10-men for over an hour and ultimately lost 1-0, with it missing the opportunity to close the gap on the top four. Despite the set-back, Mata is hopeful United can get back to winning ways.
"The team was in a good shape. I hope this blot won’t make us forget that we were on the right track, and that we have to keep believing in ourselves to achieve the goals that are still in our minds from now until the end of the season."
Prior to Sunday's match, Mata had never been sent off and he admitted the situation was difficult for him.
"The truth is this is a new and strange situation for me, not easy to assimilate, but we learn from everything. I know that, in football, we see things like these every week, but obviously what hurts more is that my team-mates had to fight with ten men for a long time."
Manchester United are not in Premier League action for three weeks due to their FA Cup tie with West Ham and then an international break. When their league campaign resumes it will do so against Manchester City.
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