Glenn Hoddle and Michael Owen agreed that Manchester United shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty during their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
On Monday night, Wolves were leaving Old Trafford sick to their stomach after they dominated Erik ten Hag’s side and also had a blatant penalty turned away in stoppage-time after they lost 1-0.
Well, this time around, it was Manchester United’s time to scream from the rooftops because they felt that Cristian Romero should have been punished for handball in the first half when the scores were 0-0.
But, both Hoddle and Owen think the right call was made because they don’t think you can punish the Tottenham star for handling the ball when the shot was taken ‘too close to him’, as they told Premier League Productions (19/08/23 at 6:25 pm).
During that period of the game, Spurs were trying to weather the storm, as the away side had a number of guilt edge chances to score.
In the end, Ange Postecoglou’s men got a grip of the game and outclassed their opponents in the second half, with Owen and Hoddle sharing their thoughts on that handball controversy.
“It’s debatable,” said Hoddle. “For me, no. It’s a good decision. It’s all about the distance for when Romero comes and closes down.
“He has no chance of getting out of the way. You can’t go with the hands behind your back. That’s what referees are telling everyone. They don’t want defenders doing that. It’s what? A yard, isn’t it? He has smashed it. It’s going at a real pace and we have seen them given. I think, for the game of football, penalties shouldn’t be given for that.
Owen responded: “Totally agree. He is too close to him. His arms aren’t in an unnatural position. When you stretch like that, your arms do slightly come out a little bit.
“But he is a yard away, and I agree, that’s not a penalty.”
Should the referee have gone to the monitor?
Michael Oliver was the on-field referee and he, of course, didn’t give the penalty at first glance, before those at Stockley Park had a look.
They decided against sending him to the monitor where he could have made his own call.
Some would argue that the on-field ref should have looked because he could then make his own judgment on things after watching a few replays, but others will feel that it wasn’t a blatant error that needed looking at.
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