Home » Premier League officials confirm Cristiano Ronaldo should have been given a penalty against West Ham

Premier League officials confirm Cristiano Ronaldo should have been given a penalty against West Ham

by Harry Henshaw

Premier League officials have confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo should have been given a penalty in Manchester United’s 2-1 win over West Ham.

Said Benrahma opened the scoring before goals from Ronaldo and Jesse Lingard looked to have secured the three points for the Red Devils.

However, a late penalty awarded after a Luke Shaw handball looked to have turned the game on its head, with reliable penalty expert Mark Noble being subbed on to take the decisive kick.

But David De Gea pulled off his first penalty save since April 2016, ending a run of 40 straight penalties conceded and handing United the three points.

But there were a number of key moments in both penalty areas that were missed on the day by referee Martin Atkinson.

Ronaldo was felled in the box on two occasions after tussles with Kurt Zouma and Vladimir Coufal, with the Coufal one looking particularly blatant.

Ronaldo knocked the ball past the Hammers right back, whose outstretched leg got none of the ball and tripped the 36-year-old.

However, the referee was not advised to consult VAR, meaning his on-field decision stood.

According to The Times referees were told at their fortnightly meeting that this incident did warrant a penalty and that Atkinson should have been told to check the monitor.

At the other end Aaron Wan-Bissaka quite clearly fouled West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek in the box but Atkinson somehow gave it the other way in another strange call.

United were awarded eleven penalties in the Premier League last season, the second most in the division, but are yet to receive one this term.

VAR and referees didn’t have the best of weeks on matchday five, and with this year’s title race looking as fierce as ever, these decisions could be the difference between becoming champions and falling just short.

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