Manchester United have decided to report match official Stuart Attwell, accusing him of adopting double standards in Friday’s draw at the Vitality Stadium.
The Red Devils had to chance to consolidate their third place in the table before their Champions League rivals step foot on the pitch this weekend.
DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL STRETTY NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES & BREAKING NEWS – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY
Michael Carrick’s men took a slim lead on two occasions, but they weren’t able to maintain it. However, they felt they were impeded by Attwell’s controversial calls.
Stuart Attwell under scrutiny following inconsistent officiating in Bournemouth vs Man Utd
The referee started the second half on the right foot, pointing towards the spot when Alex Jimenez pulled Matheus Cunha’s shirt inside his own box. This stonewall penalty was an incredibly easy call for the 43-year-old, and Bruno Fernandes converted it to give Man Utd a deserved lead.
Nevertheless, a few minutes later, the Warwickshire native waved play on when Adrien Truffert pushed Amad Diallo off balance, also inside the box.
A second penalty kick would have allowed MUFC to open a two-goal cushion. Instead, the Cherries went on to grab the equaliser through Ryan Christie.
United retook the lead thanks to an own-goal, but their joy was short-lived due to another debatable refereeing call.
Harry Maguire hauled down Evanislon, and Attwell was quick to signal a spot-kick for Bournemouth, and sent off the MUFC veteran, who was the last defender.
Many fans and pundits argued that Maguire’s challenge wasn’t too dissimilar to Truffer’s, but the match official made contrasting calls.
Man Utd take a stance against unjust officiating
According to the Daily Mail journalist Mike Keegan, United were left furious by the incident, and have decided to file an official complaint, reporting Friday evening’s officiating to the PGMOL.
The source also lists a series of dubious calls that went against Man Utd earlier this season, including the failure to send off Brentford’s Nathan Collins for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, which was an almost identical case to Maguire’s dismissal on Friday, and the failure to award them a penalty at Wolves.
Nevertheless, the most curious case on the list is Lisandro Martinez’s disallowed goal against Burnley at Turf Moor in January (with Darren Fletcher acting as a caretaker), which United felt should have stood. That’s because the match official who ruled out the goal was none other than Attwell. He had also failed to spot a nasty and deliberate stomp from Kyle Walker on Patrick Dorgu during the same contest.
While Man Utd are taking a strong stance by launching this formal complaint, the damage has already been done on the pitch. Hence, there’s little PGMOL chief Howard Webb can do, perhaps other than avoid appointing Attwell for United’s games for the rest of the season.
Atwell has been going after Man U for years now and should be suspended for the rest of the season and not be allowed to ref Man U again. Every time he refs Man U he tries to give the other team a penalty, Man U a red card or denying them a goal. Hates Man U with pasion
He’s a bit dodgy, isnt he. You’d think PGMOL would have noticed and switched referee assignments long before this.
Maybe we need to bring in international referees for some games if we can’t be sure of the impartiality of English refs.
🎯
Both were penalty, and mcquire had to be sent off ,but to say that amad went down easy and evanilson didn’t is crazy, and if amad penalty was given Bournemouth wouldn’t have scored, so would have been different game more than likely
He is not good enough to referee premier league. Clearly he’s got some agenda
Clown ref,and saying something with the low standard of EPL refs
If he’s happy to let tugging of Manchester United shirts go unpunished perhaps he should referee Rugby instead?!x😡
It’s shocking in this day and age that incompetent refs can affect results
I say in such case the refs wage should be stopped for a month
That would stop cheating refs
Atwell is not fit, for his bais officiating. Clubs lose valuable points near the ending of the league which is very important for their qualifications to champion’s league.
It is a very good stance. He shouldn’t be allowed near old trafold to ref the games for Man u against this season.
Atwell should be banned from officiating at Man Utd games full stop! It’s clear he has an agenda against Utd
Everyone seems to be forgetting the lads in the VAR room, why didnt they spot ot, they took should be suspended from any officiating the rest of season
He will not be allow to ref united this season because he has a bias in his mind
Atwell shouid be struck off he corrupt