Manchester United were left frustrated after not being awarded a second penalty during their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Friday night
Amad’s face told the whole story on Friday night as Manchester United conceded immediately after a big penalty appeal was waved away by referee Stuart Attwell during the game with Bournemouth. The winger was seeminglt pulled to the ground by defender Adrien Truffert shortly before Ryan Christie equalised for the Cherries.
VAR official Craig Pawson checked the challenge on the Ivorian but decided Attwell could stick with his on-field decision. “The referee’s call of no penalty for a challenge by Truffert was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed the contact was not sufficient for a foul,” the Premier League’s Match Centre posted afterwards.
The grievance might have ended there had it not been that 10 minutes later Harry Maguire was sent off and Bournemouth awarded a penalty for a similar challenge. On this occasion, the Premier League Match Centre explained: “The referee’s call of penalty and red card for Maguire for the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed to be a holding offence with no attempt to challenge for the ball.”
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Anyone who watched the game would rightly be scratching their heads at that verdict. After the match, captain Bruno Fernandes called for consistency and felt both the Truffert and Maguire challenges were fouls.
Michael Carrick suggested it was too late for apologies – the match was over and the points had been dropped. And yet, the Reds have taken their complaints further and have contacted the PGMOL for an explanation.
This is where United are likely to lose the sympathy of one of their legends. Gary Neville was an ardent critic of this approach two years ago when Nottingham Forest sought a response from the referee’s governing body after Ivan Toney’s goal for Brentford.
He wrote on X at the time: “Clubs writing to the PGMOL is embarrassing. Liverpool and Arsenal started it and set the precedent of this nonsense.
“The refs should be doing better and are under enormous pressure at the moment. It’s in the clubs’ interests to work with them to make them improve. This public posturing is unnecessary.”
Little has changed in the Premier League since Neville’s comments. Officials remain under the same intense scrutiny and clubs are still seeking answers from the authorities when things go against them.
The trouble is that clubs and referees are sparring against each other instead of working collaboratively and that is why Neville will be against United’s course of action. In their most recent vote, Premier League clubs voted overwhelmingly to keep VAR despite fans being against the technology. United were one of the 19 clubs who voted to keep it in June 2024.
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