Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hits out at refereeing ‘narrative’ harming title challenge

Solskjaer left unhappy with ‘incorrect’ decisions in Sheffield United defeat

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United via Getty Images)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested that there is a ‘narrative’ around the refereeing of Manchester United games which is not helping his side, having revealed his frustration at the officiating of last Wednesday's defeat to Sheffield United.

Solskjaer revealed on Monday that the match delegate’s report from the 2-1 loss at Old Trafford had concluded that two key decisions by referee Peter Bankes which went against his side were incorrect.

United went behind to a Kean Bryan goal from a corner that saw Billy Sharp push goalkeeper David de Gea as he attempted to claim the ball. Anthony Martial equaliser ruled out when Harry Maguire jumped with Blades ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Read more: Is Manchester United’s Premier League title challenge already over?

At the time, Solskjaer felt Bryan’s goal should have been disallowed while Martial’s should have stood, and on Monday he claimed that the match delegate’s report had agreed.

“I don't like to bring these up - the momentum shifted for us with the Sheffield United game - but I've got the delegates' report from the ref and the two decisions were wrong," he said. 

“They've admitted their goal should have been disallowed and our goal should have stood. That's a big, big momentum changer for us.”

Every Premier League match has a delegate present - usually an ex-player or manager - acting as an official representative of the league itself. Their report is separate and in addition to that of the referee’s assessor.

Solskjaer accepted both decisions as “human error” and rowed back on an initial claim that his “nice lads” may need to make more of a fuss about refereeing calls which they feel are unfair.

But the United manager also suggested that his side have not benefited from refereeing decisions as much as many of their rivals claim, harking back to a controversial penalty given against Victor Lindelof in a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in September.

“I think whenever a team feels unfairly treated there will be a reaction but human error is... I have no problem with human error. Absolutely no problem. And I understand why the decisions were made,” he said.

“Unfortunately [the Sheffield United decisions] went against us and they were wrong. That’s football for you, but that’s maybe what VAR should have been in for. Maybe we should have made more of a fuss about it.

“We are a bunch of nice lads. Maybe we should have really hung on to that or made them look at it before the game started again, so those are things that we have to learn from and use as motivation or energy. You are not going to expect to get anything for free.

“There has been a narrative for too long about the decisions we have got for us and I can look at many decisions this season that we feel... even the first league game, Victor, they agreed on that one. That wasn’t a penalty. But that doesn’t change where we are now. We just move on.”

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire (Getty Images)

Solskjaer went on to say he was happy to leave contentious calls to referees and admitted the decision to award Bryan’s goal was “debatable”.

“That’s the thing. The word here is ‘clear and obvious’ so when it’s a debate, it’s still not clear and obvious, so as long as we sit and debate - ‘yeah, but... yeah, but’ - it’s not really clear and obvious.

“I felt the Harry one was clear and obvious - it should have been a goal. The other one could be debatable. We just have to leave it to the referees to make decisions.

“I don’t want my players to put too much... not ‘too much’, but unfair pressure on the referees. We leave them to it. That’s their job, so I don’t really want to talk about that too much.”

United have established a reputation for winning penalties under Solskjaer. Their total of six this season is the joint-second most, level with Brighton and Hove Albion and behind Leicester City who have won 10.

Last season, United won 14 penalties in the Premier League - three more than Manchester City, the next highest - and 22 in all competitions.

Jurgen Klopp claimed last month that United had won more penalties during Solskjaer's two years in charge than he had with Liverpool over a five-year spell at Anfield.

On the Sheffield United incident, it is understood that VAR checked both Bryan’s goal and Maguire’s challenge on Ramsdale and elected to side with Bankes’ on-field decision, believing both to be borderline calls.