Premier League panel release statement on “exaggerated” Manchester United incident

Manchester United were involved in controversy last month when Everton were awarded a last-minute penalty in their Premier League clash.

Ruben Amorim’s side have been struggling this season and that was evident on 22 February when Everton were leading them 2-0 at Goodison Park.

Manchester United managed to claw their way back to 2-2 in the game after goals from Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte.

However, a penalty was awarded in the dying seconds of the game when Ashley Young fell inside the United box and it seemed like The Toffees would be given a golden chance to score.

Referee Andy Madley was instead sent to the pitch-side monitor after VAR intervention and ultimately decided to chalk off the penalty.

The incident caused a lot of controversy, with fans and pundits arguing for either side, before the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel shared their verdict.

Premier League Panel release United statement

According to ESPN, the Premier League’s KMI Panel unanimously voted 5-0 that Madley was incorrect to give the spot-kick, and then voted 4-1 that the VAR was right to step in.

Young was criticised for the way he fell inside the United box for the penalty, and he is someone with a previous history with diving.

Comments made by the KMI Panel included that “the contact from the defenders doesn’t match the exaggerated fall from the attacker.”

On the other hand, one panellist believed that “the referee should not have been sent to the monitor as it wasn’t a clear and obvious error due to the foot-on-foot contact by Maguire and shirt pull on Young by de Ligt which wasn’t shown to the referee.”

The Premier Leagues’s KMI Panel was introduced at the start of the 2022/23 season to give an assessment of all major match incidents. The five members are made up of three former players and/or coaches, as well as one representative each from the Premier League and PGMOL.

Amorim’s view on Everton penalty incident

In the view of United boss Amorim, the decision to overturn the penalty call was a clear one.

“No I think it’s a soft touch, it was not [a penalty] from what I saw,” Amorim said. “I think it was a soft penalty it was clear.

“If you start the game without the first-half, it was a good point, but we needed the three points.”

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The Portuguese head coach was introduced to the Premier League’s physicality levels early on when Arsenal pushed and shoved his players in the box to score two set-pieces at the Emirates.

Amorim did not complain at that point and instead suggested that his team need to introduce that physicality and game-smarts to their performances.

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