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Ole Gunnar Solskjær believes Manchester United should have complained more during last Wednesday’s home loss to Sheffield United about two goal decisions the governing body of Premier League referees has since admitted were wrong and could have reversed the 2-1 defeat into a victory.
If Kean Bryan’s opener had been disallowed for a Billy Sharp foul on David de Gea and Harry Maguire not been adjudged to have impeded Aaron Ramsdale – which caused Anthony Martial’s strike to be chalked off – Solskjær’s side may not have suffered a defeat he characterised as a momentum-changer. Instead VAR supported both decisions of Peter Bankes, with the referee not even requested to consult the pitchside technology.
“I understand why the decisions were made,” Solskjær said. “Unfortunately they went against us and they were wrong. Maybe we should have made more of a fuss about it. We are a bunch of nice lads: maybe we should have really made them look at it before the game started again.
“I’ve got the delegate’s report [on] the ref and the two decisions were wrong. They’ve admitted their [first] goal should have been disallowed and our goal should have stood. That’s a big momentum-changer for us.”
Solskjær suggested United had previously been erroneously viewed as receiving beneficial rulings. “There has been a narrative for too long about the decisions we have got for us and I can look at many decisions this season that we feel [were actually wrong],” he said. “Even the first league game [a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace] – Victor [Lindelöf]: they agreed on that one [too] – that wasn’t a penalty.”
Solskjær next tried to row back on his stance regarding complaining more during a match about officiating. “The [term] here is ‘clear and obvious’ [for VAR] so when it’s a debate, it’s still not clear and obvious,” he said. “Although I felt the Harry one was clear and obvious – it should have been a goal [against Sheffield United].
“The other one could be debatable. We just have to leave it to the referees to make decisions. I don’t want my players to put too much – not too much, but unfair pressure on the referees. That’s their job, so I don’t really want to talk about that too much.”
United next drew at Arsenal so dropped five points in two matches. Solskjær hopes the incorrect officiating decisions can galvanise his side to return to winning ways when Southampton visit tonight. “Whenever a team feels unfairly treated there will be a reaction,” he said. “Those are things that we have to learn from and use as motivation or energy.”
Phil Jones will return to United’s Premier League squad following a serious knee injury. – Guardian