David Moyes calls on officials to protect Adnan Januzaj

David Moyes praised the performance of his Manchester United side after their 3-0 victory over Aston Villa yesterday but reacted angrily to the perceived targeting of Adnan Januzaj, saying that officials in recent matches have allowed opposition players “terrible” freedom to kick the young attacker.

Januzaj, who played 69 minutes as United bounced back from successive Premier League defeats – both at home – has emerged as an important member of Moyes’s side this season but was on the receiving end of a number of challenges.

The Villa right-back Matthew Lowton was reprimanded for a particularly robust tackle on the 18-year-old Belgian who Moyes believes needs more protection from referees, saying that opponents are “queuing up to kick him”.

"I think in every game recently, I don't know how many tackles have been on Januzaj," said Moyes. "That's why I'm annoyed with the fourth officials and the referees – before you know it the boy will get a sore one because he is definitely not getting protected by the officials.

Incredible talent
"It's terrible what they are allowing to go on at the moment. This boy is an incredible talent . It's not necessarily the same player but I think they are queueing up and taking turns about who is going to kick him next.There were that many tackles on him from different players and I think it's something that referees are going to have to think about."

Moyes added: “Last week was exactly the same. I think it’s up to the referees. you would hope that they would recognise that. Adnan will just get up, walk away and get on with it. He’s a great lad and will say ‘come on, kick me again.”

United, who rose to eighth in the table but are 10 points behind the leaders Arsenal, are without a number of first-team players due to injury but the Villa manager, Paul Lambert, denied he had told his side to target Januzaj. “If you look at my team we’re not a physical side. We’re a young, young side and sometimes maybe overexuberance gets the better of them. But I never set anybody out to go and kick. I don’t think anybody could ever say we are the most physical side in the world. I don’t think it was a malicious game.

The result for United followed a difficult period for Moyes, with those back-to-back league defeats followed by an unconvincing victory over Shakhtar Donetsk at Old Trafford in the Champions League.

“We could have scored more goals. I think generally the all-round performance was much more like us and I’m pleased with that,” Moyes said.

Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere will learn today if he is to be charged by the English FA for improper conduct after he raised a finger to Manchester City fans during Arsenal's 6-3 defeat on Saturday.

Match report
Wilshere, who had a frustrating afternoon, made the gesture in the 67th minute and, if charged and found guilty, may face a one-match ban. Martin Atkinson, the referee, was expected to file his match report yesterday. Even if the official does not to mention the incident in the document, the FA can still bring a charge against Wilshere.

In December 2011, Luis Suarez received a one-game ban after the Liverpool forward showed the middle finger to Fulham fans, so there would be surprise if the Arsenal midfielder was to escape action.
Guardian Service