Premier League Match Centre issue statement as Man Utd get instant verdict on penalty call

Sunderland were denied a penalty in controversial circumstances against Manchester United. Benjamin Sesko's high foot came close to Trai Hume's head but did not appear to connect, which saw the initial penalty decision overturned.

There was confusion as Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot amid appeals from the visitors at Old Trafford. The official required some consultation with his linesman before initially awarding an opportunity from 12 yards.

VARthen intervened to assess the incident and ultimately sent Attwell to rewatch the play. It transpired that the ball connected with Hume's face while Sesko did not make contact in the incident, other than perhaps grazing his opponent's shoulder.

READ MORE: Man Utd manager target Andoni Iraola given 'world class' verdict amid Ruben Amorim pressure

READ MORE: Ruben Amorim makes massive change to Man Utd team for must-win Sunderland clash

Once again, the pace of the decision-making proved infuriating for players and fans alike, as Bruno Fernandes appeared to indicate that it was not a penalty before the official.

The Premier League Match Centre confirmed the process. "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Sunderland.

Referee announcement: “After review, there is no foul by the Manchester United player. He does not make contact with the head of the attacker. As the ball is out of play when the decision was made, the final decision is corner kick.”

Former referee Mike Dean questioned whether Attwell needed to be sent to the screen at all. The Sky Sports pundit believes it should not have taken that much time, given the decision that was required.

Dean said on Soccer Saturday: "The issue I have, we have referees as VARs and assistant referees as assistant VARs.

"For some reason today, we've got an assistant referee as VAR and an assistant VAR. So they don't really know what's happened.

"For me, there's no contact whatsoever. He shouldn't have been sent to the screen, it should have been cleared on the field."

It appears, Dean had been caught up in the confusion himself, and had not realised that Attwell's first decision needed to be overturned. The former-ref later clarified: "The pictures me and Tim [Sherwood] were seeing, unfortunately, looked like it wasn’t given on field and was sent to VAR, I did a bit of digging at half-time and the referee actually gave the decision on field, so for me, he’s got that wrong.

"I had a bit of a go at Neil Davies, the VAR, saying he shouldn’t have got involved, but he was right to get involved as it was the wrong call by the referee. Neil got it right, sent him to the screen, it was overturned and the correct decision was made."

The decision threatened to dampen what had been an exciting opening 45 minutes for Ruben Amorim's side. Mason Mount opened the scoring after just eight minutes as United started on the front foot against their in-form opposition.

Sesko then doubled his side's advantage just after the half-hour mark as the Red Devils looked to get back to winning ways following defeat to Brentford seven days ago. United saw out the second period to earn a 2-0 win.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.