Debate erupts after Manchester United denied penalty in Bournemouth draw - 'Crazy' decision or 'nothing in it'?

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There were some lively words exchanged in the wake of Bournemouth's 2-2 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League on Friday night. Two penalties and a red card for Harry Maguire were dished out in a lively second half but United felt they should have had a second spot kick. Bruno Fernandes said it "could have changed the game" and Michael Carrick called the decision "crazy" afterwards.

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Bruno Fernandes was furious that Manchester United were denied a penalty that ”could have changed the game” in their 2-2 draw away to Bournemouth.

An eventful second half at the Vitality Stadium saw the visitors twice take the lead, through a Fernandes spot kick and James Hill own goal, only for a Ryan Christie strike and Junior Kroupi penalty to peg them back – the latter coming after Harry Maguire was sent off.

It was a disappointing end to the night for Maguire on the day he was recalled to the England squad, as he was punished for pulling back Evanilson in the area.

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His dismissal and Kroupi’s converted spot kick meant Michael Carrick’s side could only take a point back north, giving the chasing pack of Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea a chance to make up ground over the weekend.

Fernandes was not happy at full-time when discussing an incident involving Amad, who went down in the box under a challenge from Adrien Truffert while United led 1-0, but was denied what would have been his side’s second penalty of the night.

"Disappointed because we did enough to get three points. Had to finish with a lot of suffering and trying not to concede,” Fernandes told Sky Sports.

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”Frustration onto ourselves because we could have gone 2-0 up and from that we conceded another goal. Not getting a penalty, and then we get a penalty against [us] where it's the same situation as Amad - one is one, one is not.

”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 or with Harry [Maguire] because either one is a penalty and so is the other, or neither of them are.

"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.

”I think the other situation is a penalty but I also think the one on Amad is a penalty and that could have changed the game."

Carrick agreed with his captain that the penalty decisions did not make sense.

”You get one, you must get the other. It's pretty much identical for me, two-hand grab and so either way he's got one wrong,” Carrick said.

”To give one and not give the other, I just can't get my head around it. It's crazy. Because of that, they go down the other end, they score and then it's chaos after that, really.”

In relation to the incident in question, the Premier League Match Centre said that the correct decision had been made.

”The referee’s call of no penalty for a challenge by Truffert was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed the contact was not sufficient for a foul,” they wrote on X.

Andoni Iraola believed that the correct decision had been made.

"Now we have the advantage, we can see replays quickly, and I didn't think there was anything in that one,” the Bournemouth head coach said of the challenge on Amad.

”I think the Evanilson one and the Matheus Cunha one are both penalties because defenders lose the position and then the Amad one is never a penalty.

”We asked for one in the first half - Harry Maguire with two hands behind his back, but I don't think that was enough for a penalty either. I don't think there is much to discuss.”

The result leaves Manchester United in third place on 55 points, four ahead of Villa, six clear of Liverpool and seven above Chelsea, having played an extra game.

Carrick’s arrival as caretaker head coach to replace Ruben Amorim in January helped spark an upturn in form, with The Red Devils losing just once in 10 games under his leadership.

Michael Carrick was not impressed by what he thought were refereeing inconsistencies away to Bournemouth.

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"That has always been part of the club. It doesn't change with the manager in charge. [In the] 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,” Fernandes added.

”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. What could be better is that we get three points in the next game which we couldn't get today.

"The 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. If you want to get closer to the one in front of you, you still have to get the three points."

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