Manchester United Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Believes VAR shouldn’t have Awarded the Penalty against Norwich

Published 10/28/2019, 8:12 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Imago

Manchester United finally record their first away win in the Premier League since the permanent appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial registered their names on the scoresheet against Norwich City on Sunday.

It could have been much worse for Norwich if not for the heroics of their goalkeeper Tim Krul, who saved two penalties.

“It’s been too long but it’s great to have ended that run. If we play like we did today, we can beat anyone,” said Solskjær, who insisted both penalties should have been retaken because Krul was off his line but was otherwise full of praise for his attacking players. “We’ve missed Anthony for the last two months and his partnership with Marcus is going to grow and grow.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

One of the penalty calls remained controversial as it was awarded after a long look at the VAR. Even Solskjaer remained of the opinion that his team should not have been awarded the penalty.

“VAR is there to help but when it takes ages like the first penalty, it is not a clean and obvious error,” Solskjaer said. “When it took that long, it is a signal that it should not have been.”

Norwich manager Daniel Farke echoed Solskjaer’s frustration but admitted it would not have made much of a difference to the outcome of the match.

“It’s quite obvious it was a big mistake [for the first penalty]. The referee was right and it was Daniel James falling on the defender,” he said.

“I don’t blame VAR for this defeat, we were not major enough in the first half.”

United were going into the match having won just four off the last 17 matches in the Premier League.

“The one that need to trust me and the ones that matter, they don’t mind,” Solskjaer told BBC Sport.

“This had been a good week for us. It started with a decent performance against Liverpool and now two wins away from home. It gives the players confidence and momentum.

“We have missed Anthony, he is a very important player for us, the way we play and today Marcus Rashford was excellent down the sides and in the middle. A great response to missing the penalty, chasing back and scoring.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“The third was a very good goal and a class finish. It is great for Martial to score a goal like that. We could and should have had a few more goals.”

Their record hasn’t been really good under Solskjaer permanent reign, who said he was “hurt” by the results.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“I have been hurt by the results, I don’t know what has been said,” he said.

“I do not care about that, anyone can have their opinion and that is none of my business to comment on, I am not hurting because of what someone says about me.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Saketh Kandadai

1,758Articles

One take at a time