Man Utd's controversial penalty decision explained as VAR leaves pundits irate

19 January 2023 , 09:12

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Scott McTominay was not awarded a penalty for the challenge by Chris Richards (Image: Rob Newell/Getty Images)

Manchester United saw their winning streak broken on Wednesday night as Crystal Palace struck late to earn a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.

United came into the game on a nine-match winning run and took the lead through Bruno Fernandes ’ powerful strike. Erik ten Hag’s side then had a penalty appeal turned down for a challenge on Scott McTominay before Michael Olise equalised late on with a stunning free-kick.

The away side were left to rue what could have been had they been awarded a spot-kick when the score was still at 1-0. McTominay was brought down inside the box by Palace defender Chris Richards, but referee Robert Jones waved away their appeals.

VAR Neil Swarbrick paused play to review the decision, before deciding not to overturn it, or send Jones to the pitchside monitor to watch a replay. Under Premier League rules, Swarbrick can only intervene if he deems there to have been a “clear and obvious error”.

Although Richards did make contact with McTominay in the box, the call not to award a penalty was not overturned because referee Jones saw it in real time. He explained his reasoning to the VAR, who then viewed the footage to assess it.

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Had the footage not matched with what the referee believed he had seen, then Swarbrick would have advised his colleague to watch the replays on the pitchside monitor. As it was, however, Jones’ explanation matched the footage, meaning the subjective call could not be changed.

Robert Jones waved away Manchester United's protests (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Despite this, the appeal for a penalty was met with a unanimous verdict in the Sky Sports studio, where pundits Glenn Murray and Jamie Redknapp thought United should have been awarded a penalty. “For me that is a penalty and why the referee hasn’t gone over to the monitor to make his own decision on this I’m not sure,” Murray said.

Redknapp added: “I couldn’t agree more, Glenn. He has chopped it away on his right foot, it is a lovely touch. What I don’t understand is sometimes [is that] VAR will look at things for five to 10 minutes, then something like that is actually so clear and obvious – also vitally important for a team.

“Why didn’t they just spend a little bit more time? Personally, I think it is clear and obvious.”

Ten Hag refused to blame the officials for United’s two dropped points. “You have to accept the decisions from the VAR and the referees,” he said. “I look in the mirror, I look to my team, I look to my own managing and coaching and then I say invest more for the second goal then you avoid situations that you are dependent on the refereeing, VAR.”

United captain Fernandes added to Sky Sports: “I don’t know. On the pitch it seems Scott gets onto the ball and the Crystal Palace guy tried to tackle him.

“The referee said he tried to tackle Scott or whatever, but decisions can go either way. We can’t be worried about that now, there is nothing we can do about that now.”

Felix Keith