Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Craven Cottage wasn’t short of refereeing controversy.
Man United were awarded a penalty in the first half against Fulham – a decision which VAR correctly helped Chris Kavanagh overturn.
Unfortunately for Ruben Amorim, Bruno Fernandes skied the resulting spot-kick – an uncharacteristic miss from the United captain.
Of course, United did ultimately go ahead in the second half through a combination of Leny Yoro’s header and Rodrigo Muniz’s deflection.
However, upon further inspection, Yoro’s first Premier League perhaps shouldn’t have stood.
Leny Yoro scores against Fulham for Manchester United in the Premier League.
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Exclusive: Mark Clattenburg thinks Leny Yoro fouled Calvin Bassey before scoring
With that in mind, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has now exclusively shared his thoughts on Yoro’s push on Calvin Bassey in the lead up to his goal with TBR Football.
Just before his header, Yoro put two hands on Bassey’s back, helping him generate space.
VAR didn’t intervene, Kavanagh didn’t go to the screen and the game quickly resumed at 0-1.
And on reflection, Clattenburg simply can’t understand the decision.
Speaking to TBR, Clattenburg said: “Man United’s first goal should have been disallowed for a clear push in the back by Yoro on Bassey.
“Yoro used both of his hands in the back of Bassey which pushed him off balance which created the space for a free header to open the scoring.
“This is a clear foul and I cannot understand why VAR does not recommend a review.
“The only excuse the VAR can give is that the push was not sufficient but this is not the case as Bassey was pushed to the floor resulting in him not being able to compete for the header to prevent Yoro from scoring.
“Not a great start for the new season for the Premier League referees and Howard Webb, the head of the organisation.”
Gary Neville also gave his thoughts on Leny Yoro’s push
Speaking on Sky Sports, former United defender Gary Neville also noticed that Yoro had both hands on Bassey’s back.
And after Neville criticised a new Premier League rule change in the first half of the match, he wasn’t sure about that key decision in the second 45 minutes either.
Neville said: “Yoro is claiming it, it is a great ball in from Mbeumo and there is a little nudge on Bassey, but Muniz turns his back.
“The delivery is perfect into an area where the goalkeeper cannot come for it, but if I was Fulham, I would be asking about the two hands in Bassey’s back.
“Both hands on the back and he is lucky to get away with that Yoro, but he will not care.”