Man Utd's Penalty Decisions at Bournemouth: A Review

According to Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of the PGMO, the penalty decisions that went against Manchester United during their match at Bournemouth can be attributed to the varying speeds of the attacking players. Manchester United initially led the match, thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and an own goal by James Hill, but the hosts managed to secure a point with goals from Ryan Christie and a late penalty by Eli Junior Kroupi. Fernandes scored from the spot after a foul by Alex Jimenez on Matheus Cunha, but a penalty appeal by Amad Diallo was dismissed, both on the field and by the VAR, after he was held by Adrien Truffert. Later, Harry Maguire received a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, resulting in a penalty that Kroupi scored from. 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 Amad. The referee's decision was respected by the VAR in both cases, but Webb believes that if the referee had not given a penalty in the Maguire incident, the VAR would have intervened. Fernandes expressed his frustration at the inconsistency in the penalty decisions, while head coach Michael Carrick described it as 'crazy' and 'baffling' that both incidents were not treated equally.