Trust Manchester United to snatch controversy from the jaws of triumph.
Matheus Cunha produced the goal of the weekend — maybe the goal of Carrick's young reign — curling home a beauty to seal a 3-2 win at the Emirates. The away end went berserk. The title race blew wide open. And then Cunha ran to the corner flag, grabbed a camera, and screamed something you absolutely cannot broadcast at tea time on a Sunday.
Sky Sports' Peter Drury had to apologize on air almost immediately. "If you heard some bad language in among the celebrations, for that we apologise," he said, sounding like a headteacher at a school play gone wrong.
The FA will be watching
Here's where it gets dicey for United. According to the Manchester Evening News, the FA are expected to review the footage under their rules regarding "offensive, insulting or abusive language." The key phrase? "Clear and deliberate." Running up to a broadcast camera and screaming expletives directly into the lens? That's about as clear and deliberate as it gets.
The match officials didn't do anything at the time. They probably didn't hear it. But the FA don't need the referee's report when 4 million people watched it happen live.
The Wayne Rooney precedent
United fans of a certain vintage will remember April 2011 all too well. Rooney completed a hat-trick against West Ham, celebrated by swearing directly into a Sky Sports camera, and promptly got slapped with a two-match ban. He missed the FA Cup semi-final against City. United lost 1-0.
"I am not the first player to have sworn on TV and I won't be the last," Rooney said at the time. "Unlike others who have been caught swearing on camera, I apologised immediately. And yet I am the only person banned for swearing. That doesn't seem right."
Fifteen years later, his former club might be facing the same conversation. The Professional Footballers' Association called Rooney's ban "unprecedented." It still is. No other Premier League player has been suspended since for the same offense. Will Cunha be the second?
The frustrating part
What makes this so maddening is that Cunha has been genuinely excellent. After a slow start to his United career following his move from Wolves, he's hit form at exactly the right time. Four goals in his last nine games. The decisive moment against the league leaders. Michael Carrick can't stop talking about him.
"There were periods when we did look really dangerous," Carrick told MUTV after the match. He mentioned the "collective feeling" around the squad. He didn't mention the camera incident, because managers never do.
Reports have emerged that Carrick and his staff stayed up until 2am before the Arsenal game, running exhaustive video analysis. Five Arsenal matches watched in full. The game plan worked perfectly. Mbeumo opened the scoring, Patrick Dorgu thundered in a screamer, and when Mikel Merino bundled home an equalizer in the 84th minute, it looked like typical Arsenal resilience.
Then Cunha happened. Sixty-ninth minute substitute. Eighty-seventh minute hero. About five seconds later, potential PR disaster.
Where does this leave United?
If the FA do charge Cunha, and if they apply the Rooney standard, he could miss two matches. United don't have the depth to shrug that off easily. The Brazilian has become Carrick's most reliable impact player off the bench. Losing him now, with momentum finally building after back-to-back wins over City and Arsenal, would be spectacularly bad timing.
The broader question is whether the FA will even bother. They've let similar incidents slide for years. Erling Haaland swore on camera after City's 2023 title win. Nothing happened. The inconsistency is the FA's signature move.
But United? United always seem to catch the book when it's thrown.
The verdict
Should Cunha have kept his mouth shut? Obviously. Will he be punished? Probably depends on how slow a news week the FA are having.
Either way, the goal was magnificent. The celebration was idiotic. Such is life at Manchester United — you can never just enjoy something for five minutes without wondering what's going to go wrong next.
Carrick beat Arteta. Again. Same scoreline as 2021. The script writers are getting lazy. But at least back then, the winning goal didn't come with a post-match apology from the broadcaster.
