FLYING SHAME 0 0
Heavyweights in dour draw as Ole claims refs scared to give pens
OLEGUNNARSOLSKJAER claims Manchester United were denied a clear penalty because refs are afraid to give them any more.
The Old Trafford boss was fuming after Stuart Attwell did not award a spot-kick, despite a lengthy VAR check, after Chelsea’s Callum HudsonOdoi appeared to handle.
The Norwegian reckons there was so much “noise” in the past few months from rival gaffers about them getting penalties that it has unfairly influenced refs.
Full-back Luke Shaw even claims Attwell said to Harry Maguire that giving a spot-kick would cause a storm.
And Solskjaer accused the Blues of being
“cheeky” for putting a piece on their website about United’s record in getting them. He said: “I’m a bit concerned we don’t get those penalties after what noises were made a month or two ago about us getting penalties. Clearly there is a point of managers influencing the referees, which they shouldn’t do. It’s not right, is it? It’s all these outside influences. “Even the
VAR talk before the game here on Harry, that’s cheeky. That’s cheeky when they put that on the website. That’s influencing referees. You can go back and look at the website.
“You can read what they’re saying about Harry, putting pressure on referees to give penalties against us, so clearly there is a point of managers influencing the referees, which they shouldn’t do.
“It should have been a penalty and once it’s a penalty I would always back Bruno Fernandes to score.”
Still, it was baffling how two teams pushing for greater things could serve up a drab draw considering the one at Old Trafford in October. For the first time since the 1921-22 season, both league games finished goalless in the same campaign. At least this one had incidents. Even so, the first half was awful. There was no painting it any other way. The biggest moment came in 14 minutes.
Marcus Rashford smashed a free-kick, Edouard Mendy punched it away and the ball fell between Hudson-Odoi and Mason Greenwood.
It took an eternity for any hint of a VAR check, then the ref went over to his monitor.
The ball clearly hit HudsonOdoi’s hand under pressure from Greenwood but Attwell deemed no penalty as he did not move towards the ball.
Shaw said: “I think at the time I saw a handball. I don’t know why they stopped it if it’s not going to be a pen.
“The ref even said to H (Maguire) if it’s a pen then it’s going to cause a lot of talk about it after, so I don’t know what happened there. H got told it was a pen. I’m not sure.”
Ultimately, neither side were good enough to step up.
In truth, it could be the story of a frustrating season for both, who are handing the title on a plate to Man City.
As for the penalty flashpoint, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel insists it wasn’t one – while dishing out harsh words to Tammy Abraham, who did not even make the bench.
He said: “I did not see the incident live so I checked on my iPad and could not see any incident. We have a lot of good players, it’s hard to pick them all and a lot of competition.
“It’s hard for Tammy. It’s not easy for him at the moment. It’s totally natural you get this at a club like Chelsea. He just has to train hard, work hard and I’m sure that’s what he’ll do.”