Michael Carrick fumes over penalty decisions as Manchester United held by Bournemouth in EPL

LONDON – Manchester United manager Michael Carrick slammed the officiating in his side’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Bournemouth after his team were denied a penalty, only to concede one in similar circumstances and have defender Harry Maguire sent off.

With United leading 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium in the second half on March 20, Amad Diallo looked to have been pulled and shoved in the box. But a video assistant referee (VAR) review decided that there was not enough contact to warrant a penalty. About 10 minutes later, referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot after a similar tussle between Maguire and Bournemouth striker Evanilson.

“I think they’re both penalties and it’s a massive moment in the game, and it ended up chaos after that. Massive moment, and I don’t understand how you can give one and not the other, it's crazy,” Carrick told the BBC.

“If that’s what he (Attwell) believes is a penalty to start with, then the second one has to be.

“I can understand that decision (to send off Maguire) but we should have had another penalty and the game would have been different.

“I thought that was what VAR was for, to clear things up and consistency.”

United captain Bruno Fernandes, who converted from the spot to give the visitors the lead in the 61st minute after Alejandro Jimenez pulled the shirt of Matheus Cunha, was frustrated by the draw.

“We had a situation where we could have gone 3-1 up, and from that situation we end up, we end up conceding another goal... not getting a penalty, and then we get a penalty against where more or less it’s the same situation as Amad,” he told Sky Sports.

The Premier League Match Centre gave its verdict on the incident in the 67th minute, when Adrien Truffert made upper-body contact with Diallo, in an X post: “The referee’s call of no penalty for a challenge by Truffert was checked and confirmed by VAR... it deemed the contact was not sufficient for a foul.”

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said Attwell and VAR official Craig Pawson were right not to award a penalty to United for the foul on Amad, shortly before Ryan Christie equalised at 1-1.

He told Match of the Day: “Now we have the advantage we can see replays quickly and I didn’t think there was anything in that one (Amad). I think the Evanilson one and the Matheus Cunha one are both penalties because defenders lose the position and then the Amad one is never a penalty.”

Maguire, recalled to the England squad earlier in the day for the first time since 2024, went from hero to villain after forcing Bournemouth’s James Hill into an own goal in the 71st minute, only to concede a spot kick for an impulsive tug on the shirt of Evanilson. Teenage substitute Eli Junior Kroupi confidently fired home the penalty. 

Carrick said: “To go with 10 men for so long and having to make changes, the boys off the bench finishing the game did really well. Delighted with that, seeing off the last moments that could’ve been really difficult, but we coped well.”

United enter the international break in third place in the table on 55 points, 15 behind leaders Arsenal and six adrift of Manchester City. REUTERS, AFP