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Manchester United’s topsy-turvy season hit another bump in the road at London Stadium on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag has been lauded for the job he’s done during his debut season at Old Trafford, but injuries are starting to take their toll and it looks as if the Red Devils are going to stutter over the finish line.
Defeat at Brighton on Thursday, thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty nine minutes into stoppage time, was followed up by a 1-0 reverse at West Ham – Said Benrahma’s winner gifted thanks to a horrendous error from the increasingly under-fire David de Gea.
However, the major talking point during the contest was the decision made by referee Peter Bankes and video assistant referee (VAR) Stuart Attwell to not award the Hammers a penalty for a seemingly clear handball by United defender Victor Lindelof.
This has to be one of the more baffling non-VAR interventions we’ve ever seen. Lindelof appeared to get away with what looked like a clear handball on the stroke of half-time.
While his arm wasn’t outstretched, the Swede moved his right hand towards the ball which prevented Benrahma’s hooked cross from causing any danger. Bankes overlooked the incident and subsequently blew for half-time, but he wasn’t even instructed by Attwell to have another look at the sequence himself.
Explaining why Lindelof wasn’t penalised is pretty tough. According to the FA laws, handball is when a player ‘deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm’ or ‘touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger’. This incident certainly falls into the former.
There has not yet been an explanation from PGMOL regarding the decision, and it’s hard to envisage anything but another apology from Howard Webb.
Reaction to Victor Lindelof not getting penalised for handball
You know the officials have probably had a stinker when former referee Peter Walton doesn’t agree with the decision.
“On first reflection, I looked at it and thought the arm was in his body line so he hadn’t made himself bigger,” Walton told BT Sport at half-time. “When you look at it again, there’s clear movement of the arm towards the ball. That is an offence and should have been given.
