Man Utd given bad omen for Ruben Amorim's first match that had Erik ten Hag fuming

Anthony Taylor will referee Ruben Amorim’s first match as Manchester United manager - and the official previously left Erik ten Hag furious.

The Portuguese coach is due to oversee his first game as Red Devils boss this weekend. United will travel to Portman Road to take on Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, the Premier League have made an announcement over the officiating team for the clash. It has been confirmed that Anthony Taylor will oversee the game.

He will be the man in the middle for the game and will be assisted by Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn, with Matt Donohue acting as fourth official. Jarred Gilett has been named as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

The decision to appoint Taylor might not go down well with United fans after a few previous controversies. Amorim’s predecessor Ten Hag was left furious by one of his previous decisions.

Taylor was the referee for the Red Devils’ 0-0 draw with Southampton in March 2023. The Dutchman thought that his side were on the wrong end of two questionable decisions as United were not awarded a penalty, while Casemiro was also sent off.

Speaking at the time, Ten Hag complained: “The deal is that this game was influenced by the referee. I said what I said, and that is the refereeing is influencing the game and we are talking about two issues."

"Oh definitely [the penalty should've been awarded]," he added. "There is no doubt. I don't understand why the VAR is not interrupting because they did previously."

There was a similar complaint last season as the Red Devils were not awarded a penalty in their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal, with Taylor again not awarding the decision. And former referee Keith Hackett claimed Ten Hag’s irritation was justified.

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He said: "The incident that the United manager refers to is one that could be punished either way, but I can see why Ten Hag would feel this is a penalty. Grappling in the penalty area has been a problem for referees in the Premier League and we do see both defender and forward wrestling with each other. These actions are often ignored by referees.

"I believe this is an area that should result in more penalty kicks or free kicks and I have been stating that for a number of years. In the past we have seen Harry Maguire commit holding offences and they too have gone unpunished, much to my dismay."

Taylor has also bought United some misfortune this term. He was the man in the centre for the Red Devils’ 3-0 defeat to fierce rivals Liverpool back in September.

He has also been at the heart of a few controversies this term in other games. The 46-year-old brandished an eye-watering 14 yellow cards in Bournemouth’s clash with Chelsea.

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