Manchester United versus Wolves continues a trend of officiating error
By Daily Tab24. Updated: 3: 04 pm. Aug 15, 2023.
Three precious points are enough to decide the title, while one point is enough to secure another top flight season for wolves. It’s a case of glory versus survival. Wolves need every single point they could muster to stay in the league while Manchester United need all the points to be crowned Premier League champion.
By the end of the Monday night game; Wolves manager was bitter and frustrated, he rightly deserves to be, because English Premier League is so intense to the point one missed point could scrap a team out of the league. His job was at stake; the very job that puts food on his table; I wonder why managers’ are booked for being human beings.
Manchester United goal keeper, Andre Onana would savor his debut, but that is what comes with football, everything could collapse at the twinkle of an eye, but not on his debut. When he sprang into the air and missed the ball; it was clear the hero would turn into a villain, but a split second decision saved him, wrong decision, but the hero stands out irrespective of what follows next.
When VAR was checking the possible foul on Sasa Kalajdzic, disappointment stared at Onana, he knew he had bottled it but patiently waited for that wrong call that would forgive his sins, even without a booking. Simon Hooper failed to award a penalty, after a review by Michael Salisbury, whose monitors severally analyzed what happened.
Immediately Hooper walked towards the technical area; Wolves fans rejoiced – hoping he was going over the monitor to have a second look at the foul, painfully, it was to issue a yellow card to a protesting O’Neil. He momentarily lost a touch with reality, wondering if being a big team gives a special advantage.
By the end of the match; O’Neil was right, the referee made a wrong decision “I thought he was going over to the screen at first, but unfortunately, he booked me and not Onana” Wolves manager said, obviously voicing out his amazement.
The manager knows it was a foul – a clear one, because a player is supposed to be booked for “nearly taking a forward’s head off” it was a penalty that later turned into a yellow card for him.
He would be later apologized to; but apologies change nothing after the game, Wolves are without a point. It eases a bit of frustration when apologized to, and O’Neil knows as he acknowledged “But fair play to Jon Moss” he said in what appears to be acceptance of apology issued at the end of the game by PGMOL officer.
The officer’s apology is good, but the rules remains sticking with the on field decisions, which Wolves manager admitted “I understand the rules, but I don’t fully accept it” he said, while subtly touching on extended solution to the rule”
“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 needs to have a look” O’Neil said. The referee would later be suspended but that is not what is needed because it solves nothing or corrects the reoccurring problem.
It happened often last season; where wrong calls were made and the effect of the wrong calls on where the title goes cannot be underestimated. Nobody knows if such significant errors can be corrected to affect the outcome of matches; by ordering a referee to take a look after a long period of play, like the rule that applies to penalty incidents.
