Manchester United manager David Moyes has been hit with a misconduct charge by the Football Association, according to the BBC. The charge comes in relation to comments made by Moyes about referee Andre Marriner after Tuesday's 2-1 defeat by Sunderland in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-finals. The United boss said the champions are "beginning to laugh at referees" for their "terrible" decisions after Marriner awarded a spot-kick when Tom Cleverley was penalised for a challenge on Adam Johnson. Fabio Borini's second-half penalty secured a 2-1 win for the home side going into the second leg at Old Trafford in a fortnight. Moyes has until 18:00 GMT on Wednesday, 15 January to respond to the charge. An FA statement read:
"It is alleged the comments called into question the integrity of the match officials... and/or implied that such match officials are motivated by bias; and/or brought the game into disrepute, in contravention of Rule E3(1)."
The first-leg defeat to Sunderland was the Red Devil's third loss in a week, the first time that has happened since 1992. The defending English champions had earlier been beaten 2-1 by Tottenham on home soil on New Year's Day and were also knocked out of the 3rd round of the FA Cup by Swansea this month. And it's not just the Johnson challenge that has got Moyes hot under the collar, with the ex-Everton boss blasting as "scandalous" the decision not to award United a late penalty against Spurs. Goalkeeper Huge Lloris upended Red Devil Ashley Young in the final stages, leaving the England man sidelined with a shoulder injury. Moyes would seem to be following in the footsteps of predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson with this latest charge. Ferguson was frequently in hot water for his bruising comments about match officials throughout his 26-year career.