Bournemouth v Man United LIVE: Club to make formal complaint over ‘baffling’ penalty decisions | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes speaks with referee Stuart Atwell after Harry Maguire is sent off (REUTERS)

Manchester United will make formal complaint over the denial of a second penalty in Friday's Premier League draw with Bournemouth, after Michael Carrick called the inconsistency of referee Stuart Atwell’s decisions “baffling” and “astonishing”.

United were annoyed that Amad Diallo was denied a penalty in the second half when pulled by Bournemouth defender Adrien Truffert and instead Andoni Iraola’s side broke forward and levelled through Ryan Christie.

Carrick also said it was “crazy” that United were given one spot kick – when Alex Jimenez tugged Matheus Cunha, leading to Bruno Fernandes opening the scoring – but not another, when he felt they were “the same thing”.

“One is rewarded as a penalty, the other one not,” fumed captain Bruno Fernandes. “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 none of them are.”

United believe a series of decisions have gone against them this season, including Brentford’s Nathan Collins avoiding a red card in a September defeat for Ruben Amorim’s side, being denied a penalty at Wolves for a seeming handball by Emmanuel Agbadou and having a Lisandro Martinez goal against Burnley disallowed by Attwell, which was subsequently determined to be a mistake by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel.

Man United to lodge formal complaint over ‘baffling’ penalty decisions

Manchester United will make a formal complaint to PGMO after being aggrieved by the officiating in Friday’s 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.

The club are aggrieved two similar incidents were treated differently and view it is another costly error by VAR. United are also aware they will now have defender Harry Maguire suspended for their next match, against Leeds, after he was sent off for pulling back Evanilson, bringing a penalty that Junior Kroupi converted to give his side a point.

They were also annoyed that, when they were down to 10 men, nine minutes of additional time were added at the end of the second half, and have had other concerns about timekeeping this season.

United believe a series of decisions have gone against them this season, including Brentford’s Nathan Collins avoiding a red card in a September defeat for Ruben Amorim’s side, being denied a penalty at Wolves for a seeming handball by Emmanuel Agbadou and having a Lisandro Martinez goal against Burnley disallowed by Attwell, which was subsequently determined to be a mistake by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel.

Man United to lodge formal complaint over ‘baffling’ penalty decisions

United believe a series of decisions have gone against them in the Premier League this season, and were left furious by the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth

Richard Jolly 21 March 2026 16:19

'It's frustrating for the small players': Bruno Fernandes on Amad decision

“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've changed the game.”

Harry Maguire sent off on day of recall to Thomas Tuchel's England

Harry Maguire’s costly dismissal tempered a day which began with him being recalled to the England squad for the first time since September 2024.

The 33-year-old reacted angrily to the decision to send him off for fouling Evanilson in the box, including shouting in the face of fourth official Matthew Donohue as he left the pitch.

Asked about Maguire, Michael Carrick said: “I’ve not really spoken to Harry, to be honest, and I’ve not seen the actual incident back.”

(PA Wire)

Michael Carrick agrees with his captain Bruno Fernandes on penalty decisions

“He’s definitely got one of them wrong because he’s given one penalty for us for the same thing that he’s not given one,” Carrick said.

“There’s a two-arm grab. The Matheus one he gives, the second one on Amad he doesn’t, which I think is almost identical, really.

“If you have two hands on someone in the box and they go over and they’re in control of the ball, for me it’s two penalties.

“It will be interesting to see which one they acknowledge is wrong: the one we got or the one we didn’t get.”

Bourmemouth boss Andoni Iraola satisfied with refereeing decisions

Andoni Iraola, who referenced another potential penalty incident involving Maguire and Evanilson in the first half, was satisfied with the officiating.

“I think there are four incidents,” he said. “I think the two penalties they’ve called are clear penalties. The defenders in both situations, they lose their positions and they have to commit the foul.

“The Amad (possible) penalty, I don’t think it’s a penalty, there is no contact low.

“We complained also about the first half two hands behind the back, Maguire against Evanilson, but I don’t think it’s enough also in the same way to call a penalty.

“I think the decisions in the four cases have been correct. At least in the big decisions, I think they’ve got it right.”