Premier League explain why VAR did not award penalty for Manchester United vs Southampton

Manchester United were denied a penalty in the first half of their Premier League clash against Southampton at Old Trafford.

Ruben Amorim’s side provided a worrying display at Old Trafford against relegation-zone Southampton but Amad came to the rescue with a late hat-trick to win the game.

The Saints took the lead in the first half through a Manuel Ugarte own goal after a corner but that came after big calls for a United penalty.

Amad was looking to try and take the ball down inside the box but Kyle Walker-Peters appeared to bring the ball down with his arm instead.

VAR looked at the incident but decided against giving United a penalty.

Premier League explain VAR decision in United vs Southampton

The Premier League’s Match Centre account on X provided the reasoning behind the VARs decision for this incident.

It was claimed that it was an “accidental” handball from the Southampton defender after receiving contact from the United forward.

“The referee’s call of no penalty for handball by Walker-Peters was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed it was accidental as a consequence of contact from Amad,” they wrote.

The incident seems to have split opinions amongst supporters after recent controversy around handballs in the Premier League.

Matthijs de Ligt was punished for a handball against Liverpool after the ball was struck onto his arm from close range.

Amorim says United have so much to do

United fans will be focused more on the victory but Amorim will certainly be looking at the major difficulties his side faced during the game.

It was a really poor performance for the majority of the clash but players like Amad and second-half substitute Joshua Zirkzee helped breath life into the Reds.

Read More: Rúben Amorim praised for game-changing Manchester United idea vs Southampton

“In the end it is good. A very difficult game, a game of two halves,” Amorim said after the game.

“When they lose their physicality, we find the space to use. The feeling is we have so much to do – the team is really tired.

“It was a win, it was good – let’s continue.”

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.