The chief refereeing officer of PGMO, Howard Webb, has shed light on the penalty decisions that did not favor Manchester United during their match against Bournemouth, attributing the disparity to the varying speeds of the attackers involved. Manchester United initially took the lead twice, courtesy of goals from Bruno Fernandes and an own goal by James Hill, but the hosts managed to level the score through Ryan Christie and a late penalty kick by Eli Junior Kroupi, resulting in a 2-2 draw.

Fernandes successfully converted a penalty after being fouled by Alex Jimenez, who pulled Matheus Cunha. However, a similar penalty appeal by Amad Diallo was dismissed, both on the field and after a VAR review, when he was held by Adrien Truffert just before the equalizer.

The decisive moment came when center-back Harry Maguire received a straight red card for denying a clear scoring opportunity by pulling down Evanilson, thereby conceding a penalty that Kroupi scored from. As revealed in the 'Match Officials Mic'd Up' segment, assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis did not witness the Amad incident as he was focused on the line, while referee Stuart Attwell believed Diallo was waiting for contact.

VAR Craig Pawson deemed the contact insufficient for the manner in which Diallo went down but viewed the Maguire foul as a cynical hold. Webb elaborated, 'Both incidents involve pushing actions, but the key difference lies in the speed of the attackers. Amad was not moving particularly quickly, and while there was contact, it's a judgment call on its impact.

In contrast, Evanilson was moving past Maguire at a completely different pace. Maguire's desperate push to stop him from scoring was a clear foul. The on-field decision was respected by the VAR, and in both cases, the referee's call stood.

If the referee hadn't awarded a penalty in the Maguire incident, I believe the VAR would have intervened because, in my opinion, it was clearly a penalty. Fernandes expressed frustration that only one of the penalties was awarded for what he perceived as the same situation, a sentiment echoed by head coach Michael Carrick, who described the decision not to award both penalties as 'crazy' and 'baffling'.

Webb further explained, 'Truffert took a risk by placing his hands on Amad, who, although not moving at a great pace, was still in motion and experienced contact. The referee must judge the impact of such actions, and in this case, deemed it insufficient to warrant a penalty. The VAR considered it a subjective call that could have gone either way but ultimately decided it wasn't a clear penalty and supported the on-field decision.

The Key Match Incident panel, while somewhat divided, agreed that it wasn't a clear penalty and backed the on-field decision. Following the 2-2 draw, Manchester United boss Michael Carrick shared his thoughts with Sky Sports: 'We should have been awarded another penalty. If one is given, the other must also be given.

The situations were virtually identical - a two-hand grab. Either way, one of the decisions was incorrect, and I find it baffling that one was given and not the other. As a result, they scored, and the game descended into chaos.

We should have had another penalty, and the outcome would have been entirely different.'