Gary Neville says he was left stunned by Stuart Atwell’s decision to deny Manchester United a ‘clear’ penalty against Chelsea.
Former Red Devils defender Gary Neville is of the opinion that United should have been awarded a penalty against Chelsea.
In the first leg at Old Trafford, Chelsea felt they were denied a clear cut penalty. In the latest encounter at Stamford Bridge, it was the Red Devils who felt similar despair.
Blues star Hudson-Odoi touched the ball with his hand in the area while tussling with Mason Greenwood for possession during the first half.
After consulting with VAR, referee Stuart Attwell determined that the contact was not grounds for a penalty, to the chagrin of the visitors.
Gary Neville says the laws in place point that incident to a handball and he was left surprised it wasn’t given as a penalty.
Neville said on Sky Sports: “There’s no doubt two or three months ago that’s a penalty – and there’s no doubt the referee would have abided by the referral.”
“But the referees are more bold and the handball laws are being changed in front of our eyes as the season goes along.”
“I’m in agreement with the referee going to the monitor. But that was the first time I’ve seen players berating the referee when he was watching [the monitor]. Both sets of players were shouting at the referee when he was watching it.”
“There’s no doubt earlier in the season that this would have been a penalty. Hudson-Odoi’s panic is the fact that his arm shouldn’t be there.”
In the absence of the penalty claim, it was a rather dull affair from United and Chelsea and a goalless draw was perhaps a fair result.
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