September 24, (THEWILL) – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Norwegian manager of English Premier League side Manchester United has implied that referees are not giving Manchester United penalties this season because of a complaint made last season by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
The 48-year-old has watched United denied no fewer than three penalties in their last two encounters with West Ham over the past week. Referee Martin Atkinson dismissed two incidents involving Cristiano Ronaldo during last week’s victory over David Moyes’ side.
By contrast, last season, United were awarded 11 penalties, second only to Leicester, who got 12. It was so much that it got under Klopp’s skin after his side were beaten 1-0 at Southampton in January this year.
Klopp felt aggrieved that they did not get a penalty for a challenge on Sadio Mane and said: “United had more penalties in two years than me in five-and-a-half years… but no excuses for tonight.”
Without naming Klopp directly, Solskjaer says the comments from one of his rival managers have led to the officials treating his team differently and hopes it will change as soon as possible for the sake of the game.
“We just have to hope that we get what we deserve,” said Solskjaer ahead of Saturday’s visit of Aston Villa to Old Trafford.
“We should have had three penalties in the last two games. A certain manager last year was starting to worry about us getting penalties last season and after that, it seems like the decisions are more difficult to make.
“I’ve seen a big, big difference since then on. But we have to just leave that up to the referees and hopefully they’ll make the right calls soon.”
Solskjær intends to experiment with Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo playing together as the Uruguayan will return to the United squad for Saturday’s league match against Aston Villa after recovering from a muscle strain sustained earlier.
So far, the 34-year-old striker’s only appearance this season came from the bench at Wolves before the international break and Solskjaer is expecting that Cavani, who scored 17 goals in all competitions for United last season, will have a similar impact in his second campaign at Old Trafford.
The manager said: “He is in the squad tomorrow. He’s been training and now he feels ready to contribute.
“He came on against Wolves and then he got a slight strain in the international break when we had a [behind closed doors] game.
“He is ready again, he has worked really hard and diligently as he always does and hopefully he will have an impact as he had last season.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
