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Ryan Giggs has revealed he was given permission by the referee to take an early free-kick and score Manchester United’s controversial winner against Lille.

Tuesday’s Champions League tie in France descended into chaos after Lille players threatened to walk off in protest at Giggs’ strike on 83 minutes.

The French side have lodged an official complaint with Uefa which will be heard on Friday, and if their protest is upheld then the game could even be replayed.

However Giggs claims the French side can have no complaints.

“The ref came over and said do you want the whistle, and I said no, I’ll take a quick one,” Giggs explained to the Manchester Evening News.

“So I said to Wayne, put the ball down, and that was it. I was pleased to see it go in, if it hadn’t I probably would have had a few words off the boss!

“Obviously I was pleased with the result, it was a somewhat contentious goal, but I’m obviously pleased with the points.

“But the last time I scored a goal like that, no one thought about walking off the pitch.

“I was just amazed by what was happening around us, we didn’t know what was going on, but that’s the French I suppose.”


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