The Premier League have released a statement following penalty controversy during Manchester United’s clash against Brighton.
Manchester United returned to Old Trafford this weekend for a clash against Brighton after an excellent win against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend.
The Reds took the lead through Matheus Cunha midway through the first-half, with the Brazilian’s calm finish being his first for the club after a summer move.
His fellow countryman, Casemiro, added a second goal soon afterwards after his deflected strike left Bart Verbruggen with no chance of saving it.
But there was plenty of controversy in the game before United took the lead, with the officials at the centre of attention as they always seem to be in the Premier League.
Fortunately for the Reds, they still went onto win the game 4-2, with Bryan Mbeumo scoring two more goals in the second half.
Premier League statement on United vs Brighton penalty controversy
Anthony Taylor has been in charge of this game and he made some questionable 50-50 decisions in the early stages of the clash.
The referee then watched on as Amad drove into the penalty box and was fouled by Maxim De Cuyper, with large shouts for a penalty inside Old Trafford. He ignored it.
Michael Oliver looked over the incident as the video assistant referee and unsurprisingly came to the same decision as Taylor.
But when fans saw replays of the incident, there was shock that the penalty was not given as De Cuyper clearly tripped Amad, but the Premier League have explained that it was not given as the defender ‘played the ball’.
On X, the Premier League’s Match Centre account wrote: “The referee’s call of no penalty to Manchester United was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that De Cuyper played the ball.”
Refereeing standards are so low
The problem with VAR has always been the ‘clear and obvious’ point. There are so many moments where the on-field referee will be scared to make a decision, leaving it to the VAR, before they simply just agree with them.
De Cuyper’s touch of the ball was minimal and did not impact where it was heading. Amad would have still kept the ball if he was not tripped.
Read More: Player Ratings: Manchester United vs Brighton (Premier League)
It was clearer than most penalties that have been given this season but once again the wrong decision has been made. But it is not a shock.
The officiating standard in the Premier League has never been lower, and the two involved in this incident are meant to be the best around.
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