VAR comes under scrutiny again as Martin Keown fumes at Man Utd controversy

26 August 2023 , 18:50

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VAR comes under scrutiny again as Martin Keown fumes at Man Utd controversy

Martin Keown was left bemused by referee Stuart Attwell's decision to award Manchester United a late penalty in their dramatic 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.

Forest scored twice in the opening four minutes to leave Erik ten Hag's side up against it before Christian Eriksen and Casemiro scored in either half to restore parity. The hosts bagged all three points courtesy of an ice-cool penalty from captain Bruno Fernandes in the 76th minute.

But Keown, who was analysing the game for Final Score on the BBC, was of the opinion that United were fortunate to be awarded the crucial spot-kick.

Reacting during the match, Keown said: "I wondered whether it is a moment where you think: 'Did they actually see it?' I cannot believe that the officials have come to that decision and awarded a penalty. I look forward to the day where the officials can communicate their decisions to us, and explain their workings out in the VAR room."

Unsurprisingly, Ten Hag had no complaints on the decision when he shared his post-match verdict. He did, however, slam Manchester United's poor start to the match.

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The Dutchman told reporters: "Horror start, but the character of the team was brilliant," he said. "We stayed so calm and so composed. We stuck to our belief, stuck to our plan, played some good football and scored three good goals. It was a great comeback.

Join the debate! Do you think Man Utd should have had a penalty against Nottingham Forest? Let us know here.

Martin Keown didn't feel Manchester United should have been awarded a penalty in their win over Nottingham Forest (BT Sport)

"With all respect to Forest, we can’t allow them [those goals]. They were easy give-aways. It’s crazy, but sometimes games go like this. As I said, we stayed calm.

"It’s a marker, absolutely. We’ve seen this team can bounce back. If you have such a start, you need to get over it. It’s not easy, but compliments to the team. We have the personality. In certain moments we can definitely improve, but in general this team has the character to bounce back all the time."

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper had a different opinion of the penalty incident, but opted to bite his tongue. He said: "I’m not going to talk too much about the decisions because I don’t want to get myself into trouble, but the only thing I was surprised about was how quickly the decisions were made at that moment in time."

Dan Marsh