Reds rocked by ‘bad decisions again’

REFEREEING inconsistencies came to the fore again here yesterday when Aston Villa’s winner was allowed to stand, even though Ollie Watkins was standing close to United goalkeeper David de Gea when Kortney Hause’s 88th-minute header from a corner flew in. A similar situation at Brighton last weekend saw Leicester denied an equalising goal because Harvey Barnes was deemed to have been interfering with play from an offside position — blocking the view of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

But United didn’t get any such bail-out. ‘You can see the inconsistency again, VAR and decision-making,’ argued Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. ‘Watkins is clear standing on or touching David as the header has gone in, so it’s a foul or he is offside.

‘The linesman did his job, he called it into VAR. But they turned the decision down and it is a goal, unfortunately, so bad decisions again.’

In a further blow, defenders Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire had to be replaced during the game due to injuries and face an anxious wait in the next 24 hours to see what scans can reveal.

Shaw limped off after 34 minutes with some kind of muscular problem while Maguire departed in the second half after initially trying to play on following a kick by Danny Ings on the back of his heel.