Erik ten Hag has labelled West Ham’s penalty an ‘injustice’ after Manchester United suffered a late loss at the London Stadium following a controversial VAR decision.
United were beaten 2-1 by the Hammers in East London after both sides have suffered a poor start to the Premier League season.
The visitors were on top in the first half but were unable to convert any of their chances into a lead.
And they were made to pay when Crysencio Summerville netted the opener for the hosts with 16 minutes remaining.
Ten Hag’s men got back on level terms shortly after when Casemiro headed home.
The game’s controversial moment came when Matthijs de Ligt’s challenged Danny Ings in the penalty area and the Hammers striker went down.
Referee David Coote initially did not give anything, but was then called over to the pitchside monitor by the VAR, and after deliberating for some time with a long check eventually awarded the spot kick, much to the protestations from the United camp.
Jarrod Bowen slotted home the resulting penalty in stoppage time and it proved decisive to secure all three points for the hosts.
United fans were furious with the decision, arguing that there had been a handball by Ings prior to contact and that there had not been enough contact between the two players to warrant a penalty being given.
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The Premier League has issued a statement on the controversial incident, clarifying why the penalty was awarded.
And Ten Hag has now given his verdict on the penalty decision and labelled it an ‘injustice’ and not for the first time this season the Dutchman feels United have been on the rough end of a refereeing decision.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, he said: “In football it is not always the best team winning, today it’s very obvious and clear. We were far better than the opponent, but there are two things: we didn’t score and it was a very poor decision from the referee – on field but also definitely off field.
“I asked them for some explanation and they explained to me, but when it’s not clear and obvious, the VAR shouldn’t interfere and that was the instruction before the season. They don’t keep their own process and that is very poor.
“When you take so long in a very messy situation and if you have to consider if it’s either a penalty or not, then it’s clear it’s not penalty because it has such a big impact on the score of this game.
“The refereeing should take the responsibility, that is the third time that we really feel injustice and that is clear.”