A lot can be said for referees and whether they have any footballing ability - step up, Andre Marriner with a half tactical, half vicious foul on Bruno Fernandes as Manchester United faced Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.

With Palace in possession of the ball in their defensive third, Fernandes was attempting to press the defence when a surprise defender came out of nowhere in the shape of the referee.

Fernandes caught a very slight glancing arm from the match official, prompting the Portuguese to fall to the ground clutching his face. We've seen that before... however, it must be said, it did look like a pretty nasty blow on this occasion, so we don't blame the midfielder for going down in this instance.

A lot has been said about Fernandes' theatrics on a football pitch and how he finds it very easy to go down under a challenge, but on this occasion, we'll let him off.

Perhaps, Marriner subconsciously wanted to catch Fernandes, after all, the Portugal international often crowds around the referees trying to influence their decision. Maybe this was a bit of payback from Marriner and his very own way of telling the United man to give it a rest.

Video: Ref elbows Bruno Fernandes in the fact

It's safe to say a lot of fans in the comment section on Reddit were having a lot of fun with the clip.

"Imagine if Marriner sent himself off then just f***** off down the tunnel," "Clear elbow. You got to ask, where's VAR in all this?" "Absolute scenes. How was this missed by VAR?" and "He could have been killed" were just a few of the replies, with the latter a clear reference to Sir Alex Ferguson's comment once upon a time.

Man United 2-1 Crystal Palace

Manchester United were 2-1 winners over Palace, lifting them up to third in the table. They were made to work for the three points, though, and certainly didn’t have it all their own way.

Their task was made all the more difficult as Casemiro was sent off for a chokehold on Will Hughes that The Undertaker would have been proud of.

What are Man United's next fixtures?

Up next for Palace is the visit of in form Brighton, while Manchester United face Leeds United twice in the space of four days.

Erik ten Hag’s side face a busy schedule before facing Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at the end of this month. They have five fixtures squeezed into their busy schedule before their trip to Wembley, a run of games which includes a home and an away fixture against Spanish giants Barcelona.

Fernandes will be hoping there won’t be any other referees producing a sly tackle on him in the weeks to come.

You can find all of the latest football news and rumours right here.