PGMO referee Howard Webb said the penalty awarded against Manchester United at Bournemouth was due to a difference in the “speed of movement of the attackers”.
Manchester United twice took the lead on the south coast in March through own goals from Bruno Fernandes and James Hill, but second-half penalties from Ryan Christie and Eli Junior Crupi secured a point in a game packed with incidents.
Fernandes converted the penalty after Alex Jimenez pulled out Matheus Cunha, but his penalty appeal was dismissed on-field and by VAR seconds before the hosts equalized when United winger Amad Diallo went down after being held down by Adrian Trufaat during the second half.
Centre-back Harry Maguire was then shown a straight red card for denying a vital scoring opportunity after pulling Evanilsson, giving away a penalty in the process and allowing Crupi to score.
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Ryan Christie pulls one back for Bournemouth after Amad Diallo has a penalty denied against Manchester United in the Premier League
Match official Mic’d Up revealed that assistant referee Konstantin Hadjidakis did not see what happened to Amad as he was “looking at the line”, while referee Stuart Attwell believed the winger was “waiting for contact”. VAR’s Craig Pawson said the contact was “not good enough considering the way he went down”, but saw Maguire’s foul as a “cynical hold”.
“They both have aggressive behavior, but there are some differences. Most of the differences are in the speed at which the attacker moves,” Webb said.
“In Amad’s case, he wasn’t moving particularly quickly. There was contact, and it’s up to you to decide how much of an impact it had.”
“Evanilsson is passing Maguire, in my opinion, at a completely different pace than Amad. Maguire tries desperately to push him down and prevent him from breaking through. It’s a very obvious foul situation.”
“The decision on the field was a foul. In both cases, the referee’s decision was respected by VAR and the referee’s decision stood.”
“In this situation (Maguire’s foul), if the referee had not given a penalty, I think VAR would have intervened because, in my opinion, it was clearly a penalty.”
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Eli Junior Crupi converted a penalty against Manchester United in the Premier League to equalize for Bournemouth after Harry Maguire was sent off for pulling Evanilson.
Fernandes was furious that only one of the penalties was awarded in “the same circumstances”, while head coach Michael Carrick said it was “insane” and “inexplicable” not to award both.
Webb added: “Truffat is taking a risk. He’s got his hands on Amado, and Amado isn’t moving as much pace, but he’s moving and he’s definitely making contact.”
“We know that there is frequent contact between players, particularly in and around the penalty area, and the referee has to judge the impact of that action.
“The referee decided it wasn’t enough to give a penalty. The referee’s decisions are a key part of how we apply VAR. People say over and over again not to get too intrusive and to only intervene if it’s really clearly wrong.
“In this situation, VAR decided that it was a subjective call. There could be a penalty, but this is one of those gray situations. The Key Match Incidents Committee agreed with that. There was a bit of a disagreement, but on balance we agreed. We supported the on-field decision rather than a clear penalty.”
Carrick: Should have given another penalty.
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Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes questioned Manchester United’s decision to deny a penalty for Amad Diallo’s push, before awarding Bournemouth a penalty in similar circumstances with Harry Maguire and Evanilsson.
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick told Sky Sports after the 2-2 draw:
“We should have given another penalty.Obviously, if you get one, you have to get the other.
“For me it’s pretty much the same. It’s a two-handed grab. Either way, he’s got one thing wrong, but to give one and not the other, I just can’t get my head around it. I think it’s crazy. It’s really a little baffling.”
“That’s why they scored the goal and then it was chaos, really. They should have given another penalty and the game would have been completely different.”
Watch match officials take to the microphone tonight from 10.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League
