Manchester United To Lodge Formal Complaint Over “Baffling” Refereeing Decisions

Manchester United are set to make a formal complaint to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) following what they perceive as “astonishing” and “baffling” inconsistencies in refereeing decisions during their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Friday night.

The club was left incensed after two penalties were awarded against them, while a seemingly similar incident involving Amad Diallo was waved away, despite interim manager Michael Carrick’s protests.

Harry Maguire’s return to the England squad was overshadowed by his sending off for a foul on Evanilson in the box, leading to Junior Kroupi’s equaliser from the spot. However, it was the earlier decision not to award United a penalty for Adrien Truffert’s apparent pull on Diallo that drew the most ire.

Director of Football Jason Wilcox plans to engage with referees’ chief Howard Webb to seek an explanation for the perceived disparity in officiating.

Carrick expressed his frustration, stating: “My first [thought] is he definitely got one of them wrong, because he’s given one penalty for the same thing that he’s not given one as a two-armed grab… Massive moment and I don’t understand how you can give one and not the other – it’s crazy.”

Captain Bruno Fernandes echoed these sentiments, highlighting the inconsistency: “One is awarded as a penalty, the other one not. I know it’s difficult for the referee to give two penalties in the same game for the same team but what I don’t understand is why VAR doesn’t get involved in that situation.”

The Premier League match centre later clarified that VAR reviewed the Diallo incident and deemed the contact “not sufficient for a foul,” while upholding Maguire’s red card for “denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.”