Bruno Fernandes slammed Real Sociedad's time-wasting during their defeat to Manchester United and said referee Georgi Kabakov failed to get a grip with the delaying tactics.
United won 1-0 at the Anoeta Stadium but it wasn't enough to leapfrog the La Liga side and finish top of the Europa League group.
Top spot comes with a greater reward this season, with Real Sociedad now progressing directly to the last-16 in March, while United face a February play-off against a third-place finisher from the Champions League, which includes Barcelona and Juventus.
READ MORE: United player ratings vs Real Sociedad
United had to win by two goals to finish top and looked on track when Alejandro Garnacho scored after 17 minutes, netting his first goal for the club.
But Erik ten Hag's side struggled to create chances after that and La Real started to slow the game during the second half.
Those tactics frustrated Fernandes and he felt the referee was too slow to realise what was going on and that the result suited the home team, while he also felt there should have been more than five minutes added on.
“The frustration was that their team stopped the game so many times, they waste time, the referee gave them the chance to do that when he knew it was enough for them," Fernandes told MUTV.
"The referee should stop that before and they waste too much time for only five added minutes. But it’s not because of that we don’t win with a two-goal difference. We won the game, we have to keep the positive energy we have."
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