Wolverhampton Wanderers suffered a double whammy of defeat and misjudgment.
Wolverhampton fell 0-1 to Manchester United in the first leg of the 2023-24 English Premier League (EPL) season at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Friday (Sept. 15).
Wolverhampton made life difficult for United on the day. They fired off 23 shots on goal to United’s 15. They also had a few good chances. In the 25th minute, Mateusz Cunha took on two opponents with an individual effort. He then set up Pablo Sarabia, who shot just wide of the post.
Three minutes into the second half, they missed a crucial chance. Again, it was United on the counterattack. Sarabia’s cross found Cunha. Cunha’s shot came back off the post to give United the lead. In the 37th minute, Fabio Silva had two shots on goal that were both saved by the keeper.
The controversial goal came in stoppage time as Wolverhampton continued to attack. A cross from the right was met by United defender Andre Onana, who leapt to meet the ball, but the ball didn’t reach his hands and struck Wolverhampton’s Sasha Kalajic. Wolverhampton protested, but the referee didn’t rule it a foul. Instead, head coach Gary O’Neill was cautioned. The match was over and so was Wolverhampton”s defeat.
“He almost took our striker’s head off,” O’Neill said of the incident, according to the Mirror. “I think it was a foul,” O’Neill continued, “If you see the ball and you go for it and you hit him hard, it’s a penalty.” “I think the referee should have looked at the video,” he added.
“I thought the referee was going to look at the screen for the video assistant referee (VAR),” he said, shaking his head, “and unfortunately he gave me a warning and not Onana.”
O’Neill reportedly received an apology from John Moss of the Professional Match Officials Organization (PGMOL). “I understand trying to respect the on-field decision, but I don’t fully accept it,” O’Neill said, adding that he had already spoken to the officials. “If everyone is talking about the same thing, the referee needs to take a look,” he complained.
“It was a referee’s call because the opponent dived after touching the ball,” said United manager Eric ten Hagg, “and luckily there was no penalty awarded.” “I think you can argue about it, but I don’t think it was a penalty,” he said.메이저놀이터
Meanwhile, Wolverhampton’s Hwang Hee-chan played 27 minutes after coming on as a substitute 18 minutes into the second half. According to soccer stats site Footmob, Hwang had four shots, an 86% pass completion rate, 100% ground battles won (3/3), 100% dribbles won (1/1), 100% crosses won (1/1), and a rating of 6.5.
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