Michael Owen has reportedly claimed that it was a dive that won Manchester United penalty their penalty against Southampton.
Manchester United thrashed Southampton by smashing 9 goals past them. The goals were scored by 7 different players, this was enough to help United grab the 3 points.
Their win against Southampton was their joint biggest victory and they went on to become only the second team to have seven different goal scorers in one match. The first team to do so was Chelsea when they beat Aston Villa by seven goals in the year 2012.
MICHAEL OWEN AND THE CONTROVERSIAL DECISION
The main talking point of the match was the controversial penalty United were awarded in the 87th minute. This shouldn’t have been the case. The main talking point should always have been the 9-0 smacking.
Martial won the penalty kick after being tripped by Bednarek who was immediately dismissed following the challenge made by him.
However, there was no clear evidence of whether Bednarek’s challenge made contact or not, and with the help of VAR, it was hard to ascertain whether Martial was genuinely fouled or did he dive to win the spot-kick.
“That absolutely sums things up. The best thing is it hardly matters. But if that’s a pen then the game has officially gone. Biggest example of a dive I’ve seen in ages. Shambles.” – Michael Owen.
The foul was a controversial one, however, the penalty was given even after Martial said it wasn’t a foul. The red card decision was also baffling as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer mentioned in the post-match presser.
The win has put the Red Devils level on points with Manchester City, who still have two games in hand. Manchester United host Everton on the 7th of February in order to keep the pressure on their city rivals. A crucial tie in the title race.
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