BOURNEMOUTH, England — Michael Carrick, head coach of Manchester United, criticized referee Stuart Attwell’s decisions as “baffling” and “astonishing” following a controversial 2-2 draw against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
United took the lead in the 61st minute with a penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes, awarded after Bournemouth defender Álex Jiménez tugged at Matheus Cunha‘s shirt inside the penalty area.
Shortly after, Diallo was tackled by Adrien Truffert, yet VAR ruled that the contact was insufficient for a foul.
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United’s shouts for a second penalty were dismissed, and moments later Bournemouth equalized thanks to Ryan Christie.
United regained the lead in the 71st minute when Bournemouth’s James Hill inadvertently scored an own goal from a corner taken by Fernandes.
However, the game took a turn when Maguire fouled striker Evanilson, receiving a red card and allowing Bournemouth to convert the resulting penalty to level the match.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola claimed the Diallo incident was “never a penalty,” while Carrick argued that the situations involving Cunha and Diallo were essentially the same.
“He got one of them wrong because he awarded us a penalty for the same situation he ignored later,” Carrick stated in a press conference. “There was a two-arm grab. The one on Matheus was given, but the one on Amad wasn’t, and they are practically identical. If you grapple with two hands in the box and a player goes down while in control of the ball, it should be two penalties.”
“It’ll be interesting to see which one they say is incorrect: the one we received or the one we didn’t. It’s a crucial moment. They weren’t awarded the penalty, went down the other end, scored, and suddenly, it seems like ‘it needs to be a bigger foul to overturn’ just because they scored. It should have been a penalty regardless,” Carrick added.
“It’s really baffling trying to make sense of it. After all that, we defended well with ten men, but the penalty decision was astonishing. One of them has to be incorrect.”
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes also voiced his frustrations, suggesting that “smaller” players often miss out on deserved decisions from referees.
“Not getting a penalty, and then we concede one in a similar scenario, is confusing,” he told Sky Sports. “I understand that it’s challenging for the referee to award two penalties to one team in a single match, but I don’t get why VAR didn’t intervene in that situation or in Harry’s case—either both are penalties or neither is. Amad was in a shooting position when he was pushed, clearly losing his balance—it’s frustrating for smaller players as they are often labeled as soft, while fouls against larger players tend to be recognized more readily.”
“I believe both situations were penalties,” Fernandes said, emphasizing how they could have changed the game’s outcome.
Currently, United sits in third place in the Premier League, hoping that Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Chelsea drop points this weekend as they aim to secure a top-five finish for next season’s Champions League qualification.
PA contributed to this report.