Everton 2-2 Manchester United: Did referee and VAR make wrong call over Ashley Young penalty?

Manchester United breathed a sigh of relief when Everton’s stoppage-time penalty was overturned – but did the officials miss Matthijs de Ligt’s shirt pull on Ashley Young?

Three minutes into added time, Young fell theatrically in the United box under pressure from both De Ligt and Harry Maguire. Referee Madley pointed to the spot – but VAR Matt Donohue sent him to the pitchside monitor to review his decision.

It appeared De Ligt had pulled Young’s shirt as he tried to latch onto a loose ball, instigating the fall. Maguire then put his hand on Young.

While Madley was at the pitchside monitor, it seemed his focus was on whether the contact from Maguire was a foul.

That view was backed up by the Premier League Match Centre later posting on social media: “VAR checked the referee’s call of penalty to Everton for a challenge by Maguire on Young and deemed that no foul had been committed and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned the original decision and play restarted with an indirect free-kick.”

There was no mention of the shirt pull by De Ligt.

Moyes: There’s definitely a shirt pull

Everton boss David Moyes, when told the pitchside review focused on Maguire rather than De Ligt’s shirt pull, said: “So did they look at the shirt pull? So they only mentioned the bit they needed to?

“It looked to me as though the shirt pull was enough. I can only tell you what I have seen. I didn’t know what you just told me.

“I think the referee made the correct decision at the time and he should have stuck with it.

“I think everybody who probably watches football wants to see a referee who says, ‘no, I’ll stick with what I’ve done’. I just didn’t think what we saw was clear and obvious that he should have been sent to the screen.

“I don’t really know who you’d blame [for the decision]. I just don’t think VAR needed to get involved in it.”

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports: “It was a soft touch from what I saw. I think it was a soft penalty, it was clear.”