Luke Shaw stunned viewers after Sunday’s goalless draw at Stamford Bridge as he claimed Stuart Attwell chose not to award a penalty against Chelsea for fear of a potential backlash – but Manchester United insist the left-back misheard the referee’s exchange with Harry Maguire.
The major talking point of this weekend’s drab stalemate came in the 14th minute as Callum Hudson-Odoi handled the ball inside his own box while grappling with United forward Mason Greenwood for possession.
VAR instructed Attwell to consult with his pitchside monitor and players from both sides surrounded the official before United’s desperate appeals were dismissed and play continued.
An irate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer contested the decision in a fiery post-match interview with Sky Sports’ Geoff Shreeves and Shaw went as far as suggesting Attwell made the call in order to avoid negative attention and controversy in the media.
‘At the time I saw a handball but I didn’t know if it was Mason [Greenwood] or Callum,’ the United and England full-back explained when reflecting on the incident.
‘I just carried on, I didn’t even know that there was a potential check. I don’t know why they’ve stopped it if it’s not a penalty. If it’s not going to be a penalty I don’t think they needed to stop.
‘The referee even said to H [Harry Maguire], I heard him say: “If I say it’s a pen then it’s going to cause a lot of talk about it after.” So I don’t know what happened there.
‘H said they got told it was a pen, he [the referee] got told it was a pen by VAR. So I’m not sure what’s gone on.
‘I don’t understand why he’s stopped, if he’s stopped you would think he’s going to give a pen because we had the ball, we were attacking.
‘So it’s confusing with this VAR because… look, if it’s not going to be a pen they might as well just carry on the game and not stop the flow of the game. But I’m not going to moan about it because like I said, I don’t think either team did enough to win.’
Shaw’s comments would likely have landed Attwell in hot water if they were proven to be accurate but United have issued a swift and clear response, telling both Manchester Evening News and Sky Sports that the defender was mistaken.
The club insist there was no malicious intent and that Shaw simply misheard what was said between Maguire and the official.
Though frustrated with the refereeing on show in west London, Shaw admitted United should have done more to win the game as they lost further ground on league leaders Manchester City.
‘There weren’t too many chances from either side. We need to keep pushing because we obviously wanted to win today, to close the gap, even though we know the gap is big,’ he added.
‘But we take the point, we know they’re a very good team and they haven’t conceded too many either.
‘They defend well. So we need to move on, we’ve got another big game against Crystal Palace this week.’
The Red Devils will look to respond when they travel to Selhurst Park to face 13th-placed Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening.
Solskjaer’s men then travel to the Etihad for a crunch match with Pep Guardiola’s rampant City side, who could extend their winning streak to 21 matches with victory over their bitter rivals.
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