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Manchester United kicked off their campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford, where Riccardo Calafiori netted the decisive goal. ..Continue Reading
Despite the result, United showed promising signs, creating multiple chances and energizing the home crowd.
However, Clattenburg insists the outcome might have been different, pointing to a key moment in the build-up to the goal.
He claims William Saliba appeared to grapple with Mason Mount, obstructing goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s ability to clear the ball effectively, which ultimately led to Calafiori’s close-range finish.
“In real time, I did not see any problem with Arsenal’s goal, but when you watch it in slow motion you can see Mason Mount was having his shirt pulled and Bayindir was being impeded while challenging for the ball,” the former referee said.
“PGMOL said they would punish more this type of challenge, but again they failed.”
The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) oversees refereeing across English professional football and utilizes the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system to support on-field officials in making crucial decisions—such as those involving goals, penalty calls, straight red cards, and cases of mistaken identity.
In a recent update, PGMOL head Howard Webb announced that referees will be more vigilant this season when it comes to penalizing holding offenses, leading to an expected increase in penalty awards.
“We have to identify those situations that do fall in line with the feedback that we had, that there are just a few too many examples of players clearly pulling people back, impacting their ability to move to the ball or some clear extreme actions are not being penalised,” said Webb.
“They’re the ones I expect us to catch. Therefore, I would expect this time next year to have been a few more penalties given for holding offences than what we’ve seen this year.
“But not a huge swing of the pendulum because that’s really difficult to sustain over a period of time.”
United found positives to take from their season opener, with standout performances from Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
The duo were instrumental in generating more attacking opportunities in a single match against Arsenal than they had across several weeks last season.
With momentum building, Ruben Amorim’s squad will look to capitalize on those chances when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage this Sunday.
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