Leicester City can breath a sigh of relief after Danny Drinkwater was given the standard one-match ban for his sending off at Old Trafford.
The midfielder got his marching orders for second bookable offence in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford when it was suggested that he may suffer the same fate as his Leicester team-mate Jamie Vardy and be reported for his angry response to the referee’s decision as he left the pitch.
Vardy had been handed an additional one-game ban for his red card at West Ham and subsequently missed the games at Swansea City and United in which Leicester gained four points.
The striker, who has been voted Player of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association, will return for Saturday’s home game against Everton which is the game Drinkwater is due to miss. The Premier League leaders have one game after that - away to Chelsea on 15 May.
Drinkwater was sent off in the 86th minute for pulling back Memphis Depay on the edge of the area. The Dutchman’s foot was on the line but the referee, Michael Oliver, decided it warranted only a free-kick and Leicester were spared the possibility of a late defeat.
His manager Claudio Ranieri said: “I am very sad because he will miss the next game at home.”
Leicester and Manchester United will have to wait until Tuesday to find out whether either Robert Huth or Marouane Fellaini will be charged for their off-the-ball altercation.
Fellaini was picked up by TV cameras swinging an elbow at Huth after the Leicester defender had pulled his hair.
The Football Association will wait for Oliver’s report before deciding whether further punishment is warranted for either man.
The United manager Louis van Gaal argued that if Fellaini is charged, Huth should be too, saying: “I expect first that Huth shall be getting a lot [of matches] because I don’t think that is normal what he is doing.
“Fellaini is reacting like a human being because, when I grab you with your hair and pull it backwards, you shall do also something to me, I believe.”
