- Manchester United refused second penalty vs Bournemouth
- The Cherries proceeded scored straight after Amad challenge
- Panel decided officials were correct
The Premier League Key Match Incidents Panel have decided that officials were correct not to award Manchester United a penalty against Bournemouth. They concluded the contact was “minimal and not sufficient to meet the high threshold for a foul.”
Manchester United winger Amad went down in the box after Bournemouth defender Adrien Truffert placed two hands on him. Referee Stuart Atwell waved away the Ivorian’s protests, and the hosts started to break down the pitch.
Just mere seconds after Amad had gone down, Ryan Christie levelled the game in the 67th minute, leaving United fans and players fuming. VAR checked and cleared Truffert’s challenge, with Craig Pawson deciding there was no clear and obvious error.
The KMI Panel then split 3:2 against awarding a spot-kick on the pitch. However, two panellists called the action “non-footballing” and argued a penalty should have been given.
You Cannot be More Obvious
Michael Carrick hasn’t often lost his temper as a manager, let alone as a player. But he was bemused by the decision not to award Amad a spot-kick. He said in his post-match press conference:
“He’s definitely got one of them wrong because he’s not given one penalty for us for the same reason he’s given the other. One he gives for the grab on Matheus [Cunha] and the second one he doesn’t. I think they’re identical.
He added:
“For me, it’s two penalties. It’s a huge moment and they then go down the other end and score. Then it all of a sudden becomes needing to be a bigger penalty to get it overturned just because they scored. It’s baffling, really, trying to make sense of that.”
The frustrating part of the controversy surrounding the penalty appeal is that United should never have conceded the goal that followed. Instead of playing to the whistle—which you are taught to do from the age of five—Carrick’s players threw their hands up to Atwell in desperate pleas for a penalty.
Meanwhile, the Bournemoth players broke quickly, allowing them to fly past United and score the leveller. That simply should not be happening.
Secondly, watching the incident back, it is astonishing that a penalty wasn’t awarded. The fact that the panel believe it wasn’t a spot kick only makes matters worse.
The video clearly shows Truffert placing two hands on Amad and making no attempt to play the ball. The United winger, naturally, tumbles to the floor, as you would if someone places two hands and pushes you inside the area.
What Does this Mean?
In the grand scheme of things, this should—hopefully—not mess up Manchester United’s Champions League qualification. They still sit one point ahead of Aston Villa in fourth, five ahead of Liverpool in fifth, and six ahead of Chelsea in sixth.
But with Liverpool and Chelsea still to play, things can turn quickly. Two points now may not seem like an awful lot, but come the end of the season, it could be the difference between qualifying for the Champions League or the Europa League.
