Picture Credit: X
Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, described their recent 1-2 defeat against West Ham at the London Stadium as “unjust” after a contentious late penalty decision was given against them. After missing a lot of chances in the first half, Manchester United went behind due to Crysencio Summerville’s goal before Casemiro brought them on level terms at 1-1, and in the 92th minute, Jarrod Bowen converted the controversial penalty to secure a vital win for West Ham at home.
Notably, in the latter stages of the second half, when West Ham striker Danny Ings had a coming together with Matthijs de Ligt, the Manchester United centre-back, inside the penalty area, the referee David Coote waved the initial penalty appeals. But after VAR deemed sufficient contact on Ings' lower leg, Coote was sent to the pitchside monitor to review De Ligt’s challenge, following which he overturned his initial decision to award a penalty to West Ham.
The decision is made. There's no way back and that's football: Erik ten Hag on controversial penalty
In the post-match interview, Erik ten Hag revealed about spoking with the officials about the controversial penalty, but at the same time, he said, “But the decision is made. There's no way back and that's football.” The Dutchman was also quite unhappy about the decision, and remarked, as per BBC Sport, “That's a third time I have felt injustice in the season and it has a big impact on our team and on our scores and where we are in the table. It's not right."
The Premier League took to their official Match Centre account on X to detail how the decision to award a penalty to West Ham against Manchester United came to be. They wrote, “The referee did not award a penalty to West Ham for a challenge by De Ligt on Ings. The VAR deemed there was sufficient contact on Ings' lower leg and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty.”
