Manchester United are set to make a formal complaint to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMO) following a series of contentious decisions in their 2-2 draw at Bournemouth on Friday.
The club were particularly aggrieved that Amad Diallo was denied a penalty in the second half after being pulled by Bournemouth defender Adrien Truffert. Instead, Bournemouth broke forward and equalised through Ryan Christie. Manager Michael Carrick described the incident as a “two-handed grab” and called referee Stuart Attwell’s decision “astonishing” and “baffling”.
Carrick also questioned the inconsistency in officiating, noting that United were awarded a spot kick when Alex Jimenez tugged Matheus Cunha, leading to Bruno Fernandes’ opening goal, but not for a similar foul on Diallo. “It’s crazy that two similar incidents were treated differently,” he said.
United are also frustrated that Harry Maguire will be suspended for their next match against Leeds after being sent off for pulling back Evanilson, which resulted in a penalty converted by Junior Kroupi. Additionally, the club were unhappy that nine minutes of added time were played in the second half while they were down to ten men.
This season, United believe a pattern of adverse decisions has emerged, including Nathan Collins avoiding a red card for Brentford in September, a denied penalty at Wolves for a handball by Emmanuel Agbadou, and a Lisandro Martinez goal against Burnley being disallowed by Attwell—later deemed a mistake by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel.
