Michael Carrick cut a frustrated figure after Manchester United were held to a draw at Bournemouth, insisting his side were denied what should have been a match-winning second penalty in a game that quickly descended into chaos.
United had a strong shout for a spot-kick waved away in what Carrick believed was an identical situation to one that had already been awarded earlier in the game. “A big opportunity to go 2-0 up and we get one penalty and not the other,” he said.
“It’s exactly the same thing really – a two-handed grab. He’s got one wrong so, I don’t know which one, but he doesn’t give us the second one. I think they’re both penalties and it’s a massive moment in the game.
“It’s as obvious as you can get, you’ve already given one so to not give the other one. It’s clear. If that’s what he believes is a penalty to start with then the second one has to be. I don’t understand how you can’t give that. And then the goal and after that it was chaos.”
Maguire red card adds to United’s frustration
Harry Maguire’s dismissal, which left United playing out the final stages a man down, added further grievance to an already frustrating evening, though Carrick was measured in his response when asked whether the sending off was harsh.
“Maybe, it ended up chaos at that time so decisions go in different ways. Ours should’ve been a penalty before, we would’ve had two penalties and then that wouldn’t have happened.
“Credit to Bournemouth the way they play, really energetic and positive and constantly test you. To go with ten men for so long and having to make changes, the boys off the bench finishing the game did really well. Delighted with that, seeing off the last moments that could’ve been really difficult but we coped well.
“In the end the way it went you can lose those games, so to take a point we’ll take that, but disappointed not to take all three.”
Fernandes echoes manager’s anger
Bruno Fernandes was equally scathing in his assessment of the officiating, singling out the decision not to award a penalty for a foul on Amad as particularly difficult to accept.
“Not getting a penalty and then we get a penalty against where it’s the same situation as Amad, one is one, one is not,” the United captain told Sky Sports. “I know it’s difficult for the referee to give two penalties to the same team in one game but I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t get involved in that situation.”
Fernandes was also frustrated by what he saw as a broader pattern in how smaller players are treated. “Amad is getting to a point where he’s going to shoot and he gets pushed, you can see that something puts him completely out of balance. It’s frustrating for the small players because they always say the small players are soft and when it’s the bigger players they end up giving the fouls.”
Despite the frustration, Fernandes was quick to place the result in the context of the race for Champions League football. “Premier League is very tough and we have lots of competition. Aston Villa are close to us and Liverpool and Chelsea too. Our aim is to move forwards by keep getting points, we have to get away from them and the best way to do that is to keep getting points.”
He also reflected on what life under Michael Carrick has brought to the dressing room. “Last weeks we’ve been positive with the result and that gives positive energy to the team to understand we can go anywhere and get results. We’ve been in very good form under Michael and today we had to suffer and we did get a point, we got something from it.”
