- Varane secures Man Utd win over Wolves
- Visitors denied late penalty for Onana challenge
O'Neil furious over decision as PGMOL apologises
WHAT HAPPENED? Wolves lost 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to Raphael Varane's second half header but manager O'Neil could not believe his side weren't given a stoppage time penalty against Erik ten Hag's men. The former Bournemouth boss was furious the visitors were not awarded a spot-kick when keeper Onana crashed into striker Kalajdzic and failed to make contact with the ball, but neither referee Simon Hooper or the VAR officials felt the game should be stopped. O'Neil later said Jon Moss, referees' manager at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), felt this was a "blatant" penalty and apologised for the decision.
WHAT THEY SAID: After the match, O'Neil said: “It looked like the goalkeeper tried to take the centre-forward’s head off is what it looked like live and when I watch it now it looks the same. I’m really surprised it’s not a foul. If you go for the ball and clatter the player that hard it has to be a foul. I’m not surprised we didn’t get it. I thought he was coming to the screen but he came over to book me. Moss came out and said it was a blatant penalty and apologised. He thought it was a clear and obvious error.”
United boss Ten Hag took a different view, however. “It is about the referee and VAR,” he said. “I think the two players from Wolves come together and André [Onana] did not interfere the action of both of them. First was the touch on the ball.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: PGMOL chief Howard Webb reportedly contacted Wolves officials after the United defeat to apologise for the error. Webb spoke before the season about his desire to drive up standards and reduce high-profile mistakes but on the first weekend of the new campaign, more blunders have been made.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? United are back in action on Saturday, August 19, against Tottenham and Wolves entertain Brighton on the same date.