Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fumes at the penalty decision of Callum Hudson-Odoi, VAR and Chelsea’s “influential” referees | Football news

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took aim at the referees for “taking two points” from his Manchester United side in the draw against Chelsea, whom he criticized for “influencing” the referees.

Despite the VAR advising referee Stuart Attwell to watch a replay of an incident in which Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared to be handling the ball in the box, Attwell chose to keep his original decision on the court. a free kick for Chelsea during their match. Draw 0-0 at Stamford Bridge.

When asked if he thought his team should have received a penalty, Solskjaer said Sky sports: “Yes, 100 percent. They are shouting that it is handball for our player, but when you look at it in the video, they take two points away from us.”

Immediately after the game, there was more controversy when United winger Luke Shaw claimed that Attwell had told United captain Harry Maguire that he refused to award a penalty due to the furor it would cause.

“I can’t say, because that’s not going to be good for him,” Solskjaer replied, when asked about those claims. “I didn’t say it, I don’t want to cause controversy.”

United were similarly aggrieved a week ago after their draw at West Brom when Maguire was denied a penalty and later said: “Since other people from other teams spoke about us, we have received absolutely nothing from the referee or VAR “.

It was a theme picked up by Solskjaer.

“It’s not cool, is it?” he said. “It’s all these outside influences, even the pre-game VAR talk here at Harry, when they put that on the website, that’s blatant. It’s influencing the referees. You can go back and look at the website. It’s putting pressure on the umpires. referees to give us penalties.

“We have seen, there was a manager, was it Frank? [Lampard] – There is a lot of talk about us sanctioning ourselves, when there is no doubt. Now we should have had one, that’s clear. “

While Maguire’s remarks last week were interpreted as a response to Jurgen Klopp, who said last month “Manchester United have had more penalties in two years than I have in five and a half years,” Solskjaer also complained after the United FA Cup semi-final. -The final defeat against Chelsea in July that “it seemed that little by little it worked to influence the referees”.

The manager’s latest frustration appeared to come from a match preview on Chelsea’s website, which highlighted that Maguire had received pardons against penalties and red cards by the VAR in recent games between the two sides.

The ‘not enough’ point to fade title hopes

Solskjaer pointed to United’s late attacking intent to show how they had tried to pressure their side and keep alive their feeble hopes of chasing Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.

He admitted that United had needed more than one point against Chelsea as they continued their poor record for goals against the top six rivals, with their only goal in the second minute of their first game: a 6-1 win over Tottenham in October.

“It’s not enough,” he admitted. “That’s why towards the end, you’re pushing the players forward, trying to get that winning goal that we were hoping for, but a clean sheet is always the foundation.

“We’ve had a lot of clean goals against the upper sides, but we haven’t found a goal and that’s what we have to find. I’ve said it before, we need that one goal to open it up.”

Tuchel: VAR review was not necessary for penalty

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel saw the decision in favor of Hudson-Odoi differently, calling a VAR review, which appeared to stifle the Blues’ initial momentum, was excessive.

“How can it be an intervention?” he said Sky sports. “The player in red plays the ball with his hand and then we are checking a penalty. Why does the referee have to watch it?

“You look at it for a second on the iPad. Why does the referee need to see it? He did everything right, I don’t understand why he needs to check it. I’m glad it’s not a penalty, that would be even worse.”

Tuchel was more impressed with his team’s performance off the ball than with him, as they squandered the opportunity to pass West Ham and reach the bottom of the Champions League, but saw promising signs as he extended his undefeated start as Head coach to nine games since joining. last month.

He added: “We take what we have. We perform well, defensively, in character and mentally, I am absolutely happy against a team like Manchester United. You don’t have many chances. If you do, a half chance should be enough.

“We are not at that moment where we are clinical enough to win games like this. But with effort and performance, absolutely no worries. If we continue like this, we are a difficult team to play.”

Souness: Solskjaer claims a ‘distraction’

Sky sports Expert and former Premier League coach Graeme Souness felt that Solskjaer’s anger at the television cameras acted as a distraction to avoid focusing on yet another timid performance by his Manchester United side.

Five of United’s seven Premier League games against opponents from the Big Six ended in a 0-0 stalemate this season, and they have lost the other two meetings.

“It’s a bit of a distraction,” he said. “Whether you think it was or not [a penalty]We are talking about the union of two of the best teams in English football and none of the special players appeared.

“I think it’s a message that Manchester United are accepting second place. They never chased the game and if you really believed you had a chance to catch Manchester City, as Sir Alex Ferguson would have, they would have filled the field with all the players. attackers “. I think that tells him how United sees him in the future.

“If you are in a big club today and you lose a game, everything is wrong. You get criticized until the next game. The ceiling collapses. I have experienced it myself when you think you have done well, lose a game and all of a sudden, nothing you are doing is correct and they question everything. “