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Solskjaer, Schweinsteiger & Owen insist referee wronged Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo
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While Cristiano Ronaldo scored again for Manchester United at the weekend, the referee’s penalty decisions arguably cost him a chance to add to his tally.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Michael Owen cannot understand how Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t awarded a penalty at West Ham.

Ronaldo made it four goals in three games back at Manchester United by scoring a first-half equalizer to help the Red Devils nick a 2-1 comeback victory over West Ham on Sunday.

But referee, Martin Atkinson, denied the five-time Ballon d’Or winner THREE penalty appeals.

Ronaldo’s two clear penalty misses

#1 The Coufal incident

The first one came when CR7 collided with the West Ham right-back Vladimir Coufal inside the box. There was clear contact, although not enough to convince Atkinson to award a spot-kick.

#2 The Zouma one

The second one, meanwhile, was even stranger. Kurt Zouma’s challenge inside the box took Ronaldo down late on. The defender had no contact with the ball, a clear penalty right? Think again. Atkinson didn’t point to the spot or check the VAR replays.

Of course, it’s not the first time Atkinson has denied Ronaldo a penalty. The ref previously did it an FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Portsmouth in 2008, which left him on Sir Alex Ferguson’s bad books.

Ironically, Atkinson eventually gave a spot-kick to West Ham only for David de Gea to thwart Mark Noble’s effort.

What did Solskjaer say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the Red Devils said: “The first one and the third one, I think they are stonewall and you can’t even argue against them. The first one, the lad puts his foot out and Cristiano runs straight.

“The last one, Paul [Pogba] had a foul against him – Kurt Zouma. He did not touch him, but he went over him. So why is Cristiano’s third appeal not a penalty?

“I hope it won’t be ‘Cristiano is never going to get a penalty.’”

Schweinsteiger thinks Ronaldo had a clear penalty

The German World Cup winner insists that Zouma’s challenge on Ronaldo was a clear foul.

Owen agrees with Solskjaer

The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker was surprised to see Atkinson award West Ham a late penalty after rejecting Ronaldo’s penalty appeals.

Like Solskjaer, Owen felt Ronaldo had a case for at least two penalties.

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