FANS could not believe Manchester United avoided conceding a late penalty after Andre Onana collided with Sasa Kalajdzic.
With Wolves trailing 1-0 at Old Trafford they threw everything at the host’s in injury time.
GettyGoalkeeper Andre Onana takes out Sasa Kalajdzic[/caption]
AlamyFans could not believe Manchester United avoided conceding a late penalty[/caption]
Sky SportsVAR decided to wave off penalty claims[/caption]
And a long ball into the box saw new United keeper Onana come to collect but get nowhere near the ball.
Instead, he smashed right into Kalajdzic but no penalty was given by on-field referee Simon Hooper.
And VAR also chose not to intervene – leaving rival supporters stunned.
One said: “Yes, that should be a stonewall penalty after Onana punched Kalajdzic and completely missed the ball!”
Another added: “Genuinely what is the point of VAR? One of the most blatant penalties you will ever see….not given.”
One agreed: “Wolves have been absolutely robbed of a penalty there, disgraceful.”
Another fumed: “How is that not a penalty, Onana has taken out Saša Kalajdžić.
“If an outfield player does that I’ve no doubt it’s a penalty, think that’s another example of just how protected goalkeepers are.
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“Manchester United extremely fortunate to escape that. That is a baffling decision.”
It meant Raphael Varane’s second-half winner was enough to separate the sides.
And Onana escaped the game with a clean sheet in his first Premier League match since replacing David de Gea.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil was fuming after VAR Michael Salisbury denied Wolves the injury time pen.
Salisbury decided not to recommend ref Simon Hooper review the pitchside monitor leaving O’Neil in a rage and booked for his complaints.
Salisbury had been axed from Prem duties last season after his VAR clanger in Brighton’s defeat to Spurs prompted an apology to the Seagulls from refs chief Howard Webb.
Wolves’ Matheus Cunha told BBC Sport: “It’s a very hard decision. For me it’s a penalty but you need to respect.”
O’Neil told Sky Sports: “I thought live it was a penalty.
“It looked like the keeper nearly took our forward’s head off. I think it is a foul, you go for the ball and clatter the player that hard, it is a penalty.
“I thought he was going over to the screen at first but unfortunately he booked me and not Onana.
It looked like the keeper nearly took our forward’s head off. I think it is a foul, you go for the ball and clatter the player that hard, it is a penalty.
Gary O’Neil
“I understand the rules [of sticking with the on field decisions as much as possible], but I don’t fully accept it.
“I have spoken to the officials about it already. It is a difficult decision for the on-field official, we can’t just leave it.
“If we are all saying it then he need to have a look.”
It sparked a debate in the Sky Sports studio with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in disagreement.
Neville said: “The reason I thought it was a penalty is because Onana is nowhere near the ball.
“I think he knows he’s never getting there. He’s nowhere near the ball so in a calculated fashion he’s decided to disturb the attacking player and put him off. So I do think it’s a penalty.
“If they’d arrived at the same time and he’d just missed the ball, then that’s a different story. I think he knew what he was doing.”
Carragher added: “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think it would be overturned, once the referee had given it. I don’t think it was that big of a mistake.”
Gary Lineker tweeted: “An opening day 3 points for @ManUtd thanks to VARane.”
GettyAndre Onana kept a Man Utd clean sheet on his Prem debut[/caption]