Manchester United escaped with a draw in their banana skin fixture against Everton at Goodison Park but it wasn’t without controversy.
After a late comeback enabled them to be level at 2-2, it nearly was all for nothing as Everton were awarded a penalty kick in injury time.
Ashley Young fell to the ground after a perceived obstruction by Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt which had Andy Madley pointing to the spot.
VAR intervened and advised Madley to look at the monitor, after which the decision was overturned and United’s one point preserved.
However, not everyone agreed with the decision but Chris Sutton and Glenn Murray did reach a consensus on BBC Match of the Day.
Chris Sutton and Glenn Murray on penalty call in Man Utd vs Everton
Every decision has its supporters and detractors and the discourse is ramped up to fever pitch when Manchester United are involved.
In fact, this one had an additional layer to it as ex-Man Utd man Ashley Young was involved, also infamous for his history of diving.
So when Young fell to the ground in dramatic circumstances, causing the whole “penalty given, penalty retracted” circus, it was bound to dominate the discussion.
Man Utd found themselves an unlikely supporter in Chris Sutton, who made the clear claim that Young made too much of it for it to be a penalty.
Sutton said: “I thought Ashley Young made such a meal of it. There wasn’t sufficient contact to go down in that manner. The referee went to the monitor and made that decision. That’s the correct use of VAR.
Glenn Murray agreed with Sutton, saying it would’ve been an “absurd” call had it stood.
Murray said: “If you start giving penalties for things like that then every corner kick you can give three or four penalties. It becomes absurd. Common sense has got to prevail. For me, Andy Madley was correct in overturning it.
Man Utd got justice but big picture is bleak
United have been at the wrong end of refereeing decisions so many times this season that the correct decision this time almost comes as a shock.
However, it shouldn’t detract from an overall extremely poor performance where, had Everton been more clinical, this penalty call would’ve been for naught.
Ruben Amorim gave a brutal verdict on the game and he was completely correct because United were looking like lambs for slaughter, especially in the first half.
The big picture still remains bleak despite a positive point here and the aim should be to eventually reach a point where their fate doesn’t hinge on singular decisions like this one anymore.
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