Man United v Real Sociedad penalties
(Credit: TNT Sports)
Keith Hackett
Thu 13 March 2025 21:55, UK
Keith Hackett has given his thoughts on the double-penalty drama early on in the Europa League clash between Man United and Real Sociedad.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that both spot kicks were correctly given by referee Benoit Bastien despite questions at the time.
Man United and Real Sociedad had played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their round of 16 clash in Spain last week.
It did not take long for the two sides to equal that goals tally in the return leg at Old Trafford on Thursday (13 March) following those two early penalties.
Keith Hackett on Man United and Real Sociedad penalties
Keith Hackett has reacted to the penalty drama in Man United vs Real Sociedad
Man United concede and win early penalties vs Real Sociedad
With just six minutes on the clock, Matthijs de Ligt slid into a challenge on Mikel Oyarzabal in an attempt to prevent the Real Sociedad attacker getting a shot away.
While it initially appeared he had done that, replays showed that the Man United centre-back had caught the leg of his opponent first, leading to a penalty being awarded after a VAR check.
Man United last five games Result
Everton (A) Drew 2-2
Ipswich (H) Won 3-2
Fulham (H) Drew 1-1 (lost on penalties)
Real Sociedad (A) Drew 1-1
Arsenal (H) Drew 1-1
All competitions, prior to 13 March
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Oyarzabal then converted the penalty himself to put Real Sociedad 1-0 up on the night and 2-1 up on aggregate.
The hosts would not be behind for long though, as just minutes later, Rasmus Hojlund went down under a challenge from Igor Zebeldia as he got his shot away.
This time Bastien did point to the spot immediately, with VAR then confirming that decision to award the penalty to Man United.
After Bruno Fernandes had conceded a penalty in the first leg, the Man United captain made amends by firing in that penalty to level up the tie again.
Now Hackett believes that on both occasions, the correct decision was eventually reached.
Keith Hackett assesses double penalty drama
Speaking to Football Insider about those two penalty decisions, the former referee said:
“The first penalty kick was rightly checked on the monitor following advice from the VAR. This was a good intervention by the referee and the correct decision to award a penalty kick.
“The second penalty was the result of a careless challenge and the correct decision by the referee.”
That was enough to ensure that the game remained all square up until half time in the second leg at Old Trafford.
Man United though would win another thanks to Patrick Dorgu, which Fernandes again scored to take the lead early in the second half.
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