Immediately after the match on the evening of 20/3, Manchester United's leadership prepared to submit a formal complaint to the Premier League's Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), headed by Howard Webb. The "Red Devils" were indignant about not being awarded a second penalty during the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, a situation they deemed a serious error by the video assistant referee.

Manchester United's football director, Jason Wilcox, will directly engage with Webb to request an explanation and seek clarification on a series of controversial decisions. Internally, the Old Trafford club believes that the video assistant referee has once again cost them points this season.

The incident where Amad Diallo (white shirt) was pushed down in the penalty area by Adrien Truffert (left), but Manchester United was not awarded a penalty, during the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth in Premier League matchday 31 at Vitality Stadium, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, on the evening of 20/3. *Photo: Sky Sports*

The Premier League matchday 31 fixture was tense and full of twists. In the 61st minute, Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring for Manchester United from a penalty after Matheus Cunha was fouled in the penalty area. However, just minutes later, a similar incident occurred when Amad Diallo was challenged by defender Adrien Truffert and fell in the box, but referee Stuart Attwell did not award a foul, and the VAR also did not intervene.

This decision immediately sparked controversy, as Manchester United argued that two nearly identical incidents were handled differently. Immediately after avoiding the penalty, Bournemouth counter-attacked and equalized 1-1 through Ryan Christie.

The "Red Devils" then regained the lead thanks to an own goal from James Hill, but the drama continued. In the 78th minute, Harry Maguire fouled Evanilson in the penalty area, received a red card, and conceded a penalty. From this, Junior Kroupi scored, setting the final score at 2-2.

What further frustrated Manchester United was their belief that Maguire's foul was similar in nature to the incident involving Amad but was handled completely differently. This inconsistency is central to the complaint the club plans to submit to the PGMOL.

Acting coach Michael Carrick could not hide his confusion after the match. "One of the two decisions was definitely wrong," he stated. "The two situations were almost identical. If we had been awarded another penalty, we could have been leading 2-0 instead of letting the opponent equalize immediately afterward."

Beyond the penalty incidents, Manchester United also intends to request an explanation for the 9 minutes of added time at the end of the match, during which they played with one fewer player and tried to preserve the score. The club's leadership believes the added time was "confusing" and could have impacted the overall course of the game.

This is not the first time Manchester United has reacted to refereeing this season. Previously, they were angry about a Brentford player not being sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, being denied a penalty in the match against Wolves, and Lisandro Martinez's goal being disallowed in the draw against Burnley, a match also officiated by Attwell. Webb had previously admitted an error concerning Manchester United, regarding the Brentford player not receiving a red card.

This series of incidents has led Manchester United to believe they have lost many crucial points. The draw against Bournemouth further complicates the race for next season's Champions League, with Manchester United currently in third place and facing significant pressure from pursuing rivals such as Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola contended that the incident involving Amad was not sufficient for a penalty, further intensifying the post-match debate.

Hoang An (*according to Mirror*)