Manchester United fans complained that they were ‘robbed’ by referee Anthony Taylor after Liverpool salvaged a late draw at Old Trafford. Mohamed Salah buried a penalty with just six minutes remaining to ensure the spoils were shared after Harvey Elliott went down in the box.
Elliott fell to the turf under the challenge of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Taylor wasted no time in blowing his whistle and pointing to the spot. However, one angle of the incident appeared to show that Wan-Bissaka’s outstretched boot did not actually make contact with Elliott.
Instead, it was his trailing leg that made contact, and some fans believe Elliott deliberately dangled his right leg so that he would catch Wan-Bissaka’s limb and fall over.
The footage was widely discussed on social media after the final whistle, leaving many United fans aggrieved with what they felt was a ‘robbery’ of all three points.
“Another day, another robbery,” wrote @Annychizzy on X, formerly Twitter. @UnitedZone2 was also clearly furious with the decision to award Liverpool a penalty, adding: “WE HAVE BEEN ROBBED!!!”
@UTDRoyo said: “If that’s a penalty, I’m deleting my account,” while @RICH_UTD echoed a similar sentiment as he wrote: “We get robbed every single week by VAR. How is this a penalty and not a dive?”
@privilege_mufc, meanwhile, added: “AWB didn’t even touch him. Elliott fell down because he anticipated he was going to get tackled and, in the process, conning the referee.”
Not everybody thought Liverpool were lucky to be awarded a penalty, though, with Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp convinced that Elliott was in fact clipped by Wan-Bissaka.
“That’s a penalty,” said Redknapp as he ran the rule over the incident. “Harvey Elliott came on and made a real difference. Jarell Quansah gets his side back up the pitch and it is a good piece of play.
“Aaron Wan-Bissaka is one of the best at slide tackling. He’s got those go go gadget legs he just sticks out, but this one he gets it wrong.
“Harvey Elliott is bright, he realises this, dangles his leg out and gets the penalty. Okay, he misses the ball, but watch Harvey Elliott plant his right leg. He hooks him, and that is why I think it was a penalty.”
