Spot of controversy
PENALTY
37 mins Brighton pressing pays off when Tariq Lamptey gets goal-side of Bruno Fernandes inside the box, the young full-back goes down and referee Chris Kavanagh points to the spot.
MOS EXPERT CHRIS FOY SAYS There is contact between Fernandes and Lamptey, referee Kavanagh takes his time and makes the right decision. Clear penalty. NO PENALTY
47 mins There is a clash between Paul Pogba and Aaron Connolly on the edge of the United box and the Brighton player goes down. Kavanagh points to the spot but VAR Simon Hooper suggests he might have made a clear and obvious error. The ref goes to the monitor — BT Sport suggests Hooper tells Kavanagh he may have called it wrong — and overturns his decision. No penalty.
CHRIS FOY SAYS When I saw that in real time, I said “penalty”. But after looking at the slow-motion replay, the picture looked different. VAR checks it because it is a penalty decision and suggests Chris might want to look at the monitor. And that is the beauty of the different camera angles VAR has access to because it showed that any contact was minimal and initiated by Connolly. The final decision will always lie with the on-field official. NO PENALTY
58 mins Brighton want another penalty, as Connolly goes down in the box from Harry Maguire’s attention but referee Kavanagh is convinced about this one and points for a goal-kick. Maguire wants Connolly booked. CHRIS FOY SAYS Connolly went to ground far too easily with Maguire in attendance and Kavanagh was absolutely correct to wave away the claim. PENALTY
96 mins Maguire gets his head to the corner and the ball flicks a jumping Neal Maupay’s arm before being cleared. United players protest as Kavanagh decides no penalty and blows the final whistle. VAR, though, has other ideas and instructs the referee to go to the monitor. He enrages Brighton players and staff by changing his mind and controversially pointing to the penalty spot.
CHRIS FOY SAYS By the letter of the law, it is a penalty, as simple as that. Maupay made himself unnaturally bigger, his arm clearly outside his body line. And that is a penalty.