Ole: We don’t get penalties after rival bosses moaned
LUKe ShAW accused referee Stuart Attwell last night of refusing to award his team a penalty to avoid a backlash — although Manchester United later said the defender misheard the claims. In an incredible post-match interview, the left back claimed Attwell told United skipper harry Maguire that he chose not to overturn his ‘no penalty’ call after Chelsea’s Callum hudsonOdoi had appeared to handle in the area — even though VAR advised him to award a spot-kick. Shaw said: ‘The referee even said to h (Maguire), “If I say it’s a penalty, it’s going to cause a lot of talk about it after”, so I don’t know what happened there. harry said that they got told it was a penalty by VAR.’ Shaw’s manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer added fuel to the fire with explosive comments of his own, insisting his team ‘100 per cent’ should have been awarded a spot-kick. he went on to accuse his fellow Premier League managers of influencing officials not to award United penalties. Jurgen Klopp, Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho are among the bosses to have commented on the number of penalties United are awarded. Solskjaer also took aim at Chelsea over an article published on their club website before the clash that suggested key VAR rulings have gone Maguire’s way this season. ‘Yes we were denied a penalty, 100 per cent,’ Solskjaer said. ‘I don’t understand why. You can see it’s handball, it’s taken two points from us.’ When asked about what Attwell allegedly said to United’s players, Solskjaer replied: ‘I can’t say because that’s not going to be good for him, I don’t want to cause controversy. It’s not right, is it? ‘It’s all the outside influences, VAR talk before the game on harry when they put that on the website. Cheeky — that’s influencing referees. You can read what they’re saying about harry Maguire and putting pressure on referees to give penalties against us. ‘Was it Frank (Lampard) that started it? Loads of talk about us getting penalties when there’s no doubt and today we should’ve had a penalty. ‘It’s gone now but I’m a bit concerned we don’t get those penalties after what noises were made, so there is clearly a point of managers influencing the referees, which they shouldn’t do. ‘That’s the nature of us as managers — anything that goes against you, you want to highlight it. If something goes for other teams, you want to try to stop that. I trust the referees are not being influenced by it.’ Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel warned Tammy Abraham he needs to show a marked improvement after axing him from the matchday squad yesterday. The england striker, who has been nursing an ankle issue, remains the club’s top Premier League scorer this season with six goals but his future is now under a cloud. ‘We have a strong squad, we only have Thiago Silva injured, which means we have to take hard decisions,’ said Tuchel. ‘Things are a bit difficult for him, not as easy as they should be. ‘It’s not his fault, it’s just the moment and he has our full support. ‘he needs to do exactly what he does — train well, be in a good mood and accept it. When these moments arrive, there’s no other answer but to fight for his place in the squad, and I’m sure he will do that.’