Manchester United Penalty Decisions Explained by Refereeing Chief

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMO) chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, has shed light on the penalty decisions that went against Manchester United during their match against Bournemouth. According to Webb, the disparity in the speed at which the attackers were moving played a significant role in these decisions. Manchester United had taken the lead twice through goals from Bruno Fernandes and an own goal by James Hill, but Bournemouth equalized on both occasions, with the second equalizer coming from a late penalty scored by Eli Junior Kroupi. The penalty was awarded after Harry Maguire was given a straight red card for pulling over Evanilson, thus denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. In contrast, a penalty appeal by Amad Diallo was dismissed, both on the field and by the VAR, after he was held by Adrien Truffert. Webb explained that the key difference between the two incidents lay in the speed at which the attackers were moving, with Evanilson moving at a much faster pace than Diallo. The referee's decision was respected by the VAR in both cases. Webb noted that in the case of Maguire's foul, if the referee had not given a penalty, the VAR would have intervened, as it was clearly a penalty. Manchester United's head coach, Michael Carrick, and player Bruno Fernandes expressed their frustration and confusion over the disparity in the penalty decisions, with Carrick describing it as 'crazy' and 'baffling'. Webb acknowledged that the referee's decision is crucial in the application of VAR and that the VAR should only intervene when something is clearly wrong. In this case, the VAR deemed the decision not to award a penalty to Diallo as a subjective call and chose not to overrule the on-field decision.