Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bemoans incorrect decisions identified in Sheffield United defeat
Man Utd were beaten 2-1 by Sheffield United at Old Trafford last Wednesday; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the match delegate has confirmed the officials got two key decisions wrong; Solskjaer: "Maybe we should have made more of a fuss"
Tuesday 2 February 2021 06:11, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says his Manchester United players "should have made more of a fuss" over two key decisions in last week's loss to Sheffield United after the match delegate confirmed the officials' mistakes.
The 2-1 defeat by the Blades at Old Trafford on Wednesday ended United's 13-match unbeaten Premier League run this season, leaving Solskjaer frustrated by his players' undercooked display and the decisions to allow Kean Bryan's opener and then rule out Anthony Martial's leveller.
Billy Sharp pushed David de Gea as Bryan scored and Harry Maguire was adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale before Martial found the net - decisions the Manchester United manager says have been confirmed as incorrect.
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"I don't really like to bring this up but the momentum shifted for us with the Sheffield United game," Solskjaer said. "I've got the delegate's report through from the ref and the two decisions were wrong.
"They've admitted that their goal should have been disallowed and ours should have stood and that is a big, big momentum changer for us.
"You're more likely when you go 1-0 up than 1-0 down that you can go on and maybe win that game, so that's fine margins and it has been that way this season."
The match delegate is a former player or manager who provides information into the overall reporting pot, which is different from the referee's assessor or Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) making that admission.
Peter Bankes was the referee for Manchester United's defeat last week, Solskjaer's first in the league since losing to Arsenal at Old Trafford on November 1.
Solskjaer added: "I think whenever a team feels unfairly treated, there will be a reaction, but I've got absolutely no problem with human error. I understand why the decisions were made.
"Unfortunately they went against us and they were wrong, that's football for you. That's maybe what VAR should have been in for, maybe we should have made more of a fuss about it.
"We're a bunch of nice lads. Maybe we should have really hung onto that and made them look again before the game started again. Those are things we have to learn from, and use as energy and motivations. You're not going to expect to get anything for free.
"There's been a narrative for too long about decisions we've got for us. I can look at many decisions - even in the first game [against Crystal Palace] they agreed that wasn't a penalty - but that doesn't change where we are now. We just move on.
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"I don't want my players to put unfair pressure on the referee. We leave them to it, that's their job so I don't want to talk about that too much."
Manchester United are second in the Premier League table heading into Tuesday's clash at home to Southampton before hosting Everton on Saturday - live on Sky Sports.
