Referees’ chief Howard Webb has reportedly admitted that the controversial late penalty decision during Manchester United’s loss against West Ham was wrong.
United suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham on October 27 – a game which proved to be Erik ten Hag’s final one as club boss.
Ten Hag was sacked the day after and assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy was appointed as interim manager.
In the dying stages of the meeting at the London Stadium, West Ham were awarded a dubious penalty. Danny Ings and Matthijs de Ligt clashed inside the box and on-field referee David Coote initially deemed that there was no infringement and waved to play on.
Despite the fact that there were no protestations from the West Ham players, VAR official Michael Oliver intervened and instructed Coote to head to the monitor for further review. Inevitably, Coote reversed his decision and gave the Hammers a penalty.
Jarrod Bowen made no mistake from the spot-kick, beating Andre Onana to clinch all three points for his side and in the process, sealed Ten Hag’s fate as United gaffer.
After the final whistle, a furious Ten Hag branded the situation an “injustice” as he also accused Coote of lacking the personality to stand up to Oliver.
Now, The Times reveal that Webb has acknowledged that the penalty call was wrong and it shouldn’t have been given.
“The Times understands that Webb, the chief refereeing officer at PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), believes it was an error for West Ham United to be awarded the decisive spot kick in added time at London Stadium.”
“It is understood that Webb has voiced his opinion that it was an error for the penalty to be given and that the referee’s on-pitch decision should have stood. He will make his latest appearance on the Mic’d Up programme next week, where he discusses numerous controversial decisions, and it is expected that he will discuss this penalty incident. However, a running order for the show has yet to be finalised.”
“The Key Match Incidents panel, an independent group that looks at big officiating calls in the Premier League, is also understood to have judged the decision to be wrong.”
It is unclear whether a draw vs. Julen Lopetegui’s men would have afforded Ten Hag more time in the Old Trafford dugout.
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
