PGMO chief refereeing officer Howard Webb says the penalty decisions that went against Manchester United at Bournemouth were because of the difference in the “speed the attackers are moving at”.
Man Utd led twice on the south coast in March through Bruno Fernandes and a James Hill own goal, but Ryan Christie and a late penalty from Eli Junior Kroupi earned the hosts a point in an incident-packed match.
Fernandes scored from the spot after a pull by Alex Jimenez on Matheus Cunha, but United winger Amad Diallo had a penalty appeal dismissed on-field and by the VAR during the second half when he went down after being held by Adrien Truffert, seconds before the hosts equalised.
Centre-back Harry Maguire was then shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity after he pulled over Evanilson, giving away a penalty in the process which Kroupi scored from.
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Ryan Christie pulls one back for Bournemouth after Amad Diallo was denied penalty in their Premier League clash with Manchester United
Match Officials Mic’d Up revealed assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis didn’t see the Amad incident as he was “looking at the line” with referee Stuart Attwell believing the winger was “waiting for the contact”. VAR Craig Pawson said the contact was “not sufficient for how he goes down” but he saw the Maguire foul as “a cynical hold across”.
Webb said: “They’re both pushing actions, but there are some differences. Most of the difference sits around the speed the attackers are moving at.
“In Amad’s case, he wasn’t moving particularly quickly. There was some contact. It’s a judgment call on how impactful it is.
“Evanilson is going past Maguire. It’s a completely different pace, in my opinion, to Amad. Maguire desperately pushes him over to stop him from going through to score. A very clear situation of a foul.
“The on-field decision was foul. In both cases, the referee’s decision was respected by the VAR and the referee’s call stood.
“In this situation [Maguire foul], if the referee hadn’t given a penalty, then I think VAR would have stepped in because, in my opinion, it’s clearly and obviously a penalty.”
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Harry Maguire is sent off for pulling Evanilson and Eli Junior Kroupi converts the penalty to bring Bournemouth level in their Premier League clash with Manchester United
Fernandes was furious that only one of the penalties was awarded for “the same situation” while head coach Michael Carrick said it was “crazy” and “baffling” not to give both.
Webb added: “Truffert takes a risk. He places his hands on Amad, who is not moving at a great pace, but he is moving and there is definitely contact.
“We know that players come into contact quite often, particularly in and around the penalty area. The referee has to make a judgment on how impactful that action is.
“The referee deemed it wasn’t sufficient to award a penalty. The referee’s call is an important part of the way we apply VAR. Time and time again, people tell us not to be too intrusive, only step in when something is really clearly wrong.
“In this situation, the VAR deemed it was a subjective call – could be a penalty, but it’s one of those grey situations. The Key Match Incident panel agreed with that. They were split a little bit, but they agreed on balance, it wasn’t a clear penalty and supported the on-field decision.”
Carrick: We should have had another penalty
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Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes questioned the decision to deny Manchester United a penalty for a push on Amad Diallo before awarding Bournemouth a penalty for a seemingly similar situation with Harry Maguire and Evanilson
Man Utd boss Michael Carrick to Sky Sports after the 2-2 draw:
“We should have had another penalty. Obviously, if you get one, you must get the other.
“It’s pretty much identical for me, two-hand grab. Either way, he’s got one wrong, but to give one and not give the other, I can’t get my head around it, I think it’s crazy. It’s a bit baffling, really.
“Because of that, they score and then it’s chaos after that, really. We should have had another penalty and the game would have been totally different.”
Watch Match Officials Mic’d Up on Sky Sports Premier League tonight at 10.30pm
