Two set-piece goals were the decisive factors in Manchester United’s loss at Arsenal but a third dead-ball situation could have also arrived during the game.
During the first half of the game, Bukayo Saka went to the outside and fizzed a cross in at great speed which struck Harry Maguire while he was quite a distance away.
Arsenal immediately appealed for a penalty due to a potential handball and when VAR started checking the incident, Man Utd fans started fearing the worst.
Man Utd have been on the negative end of multiple decisions this season but fortunately, this wasn’t one of them as the check was complete and no penalty was awarded.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Dermot Gallagher has now dropped a clear verdict on whether that should have been a penalty or not.
Dermot Gallagher on Harry Maguire incident vs Arsenal
The inconsistencies with refereeing have infuriated fans to no end and this season and Erik ten Hag can believably claim that he lost his job due to a poor refereeing performance at West Ham United.
Ruben Amorim didn’t have any such complaints after the loss to Arsenal because outside of the penalty shout which went United’s way, there wasn’t anything questionable.
Dermot Gallagher agreed with the final decision to not award a penalty and came to the defence of Harry Maguire for how he handled that ball.
He said: “I’m not convinced it hit his arm at all. Even if it does, it certainly comes off his body as it hits the side of his chest first because he keeps his arms down.
“That’s the modern player, doing everything to, in that position, making the body as small as possible so they’re not accused of almost a starfish-y stance of blocking the cross.”
That call allowed United to go into half-time on level terms amidst a frustrated Emirates crowd that was getting antsy at Arsenal not being able to break United down.
Harry Maguire impressed vs Arsenal
Maguire was thrust into a difficult game out of sheer necessity since Lisandro Martinez picked up a booking vs Everton which led to his suspension here.
Starting as the central centre-back of a back three, he impressed vs Arsenal with his front-foot defending and ball-playing ability.
Kai Havertz was kept completely quiet and his height could have been an asset on set-pieces from which Arsenal scored when he came off. The first goal from Arsenal came when he was still on the pitch so the issue was more systematic than personnel-based but his aerial skills are always a bonus.
He won all his duels in the game and the 60 minutes he played from the start allowed Leny Yoro to ease back into match rhythm with a nice 30-minute cameo.
Maguire’s contract expires next year and the club hold an option to extend it by a year. His professionalism should ensure there is a place for him at Old Trafford if he takes a pay cut on his current £200k/week wages.
If not, he will leave United as the consummate professional who always put the team first over himself in the face of relentless scrutiny and abuse.
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