Sir Alex Ferguson claims big decisions don't go for Manchester United after penalty denied against Arsenal
Sir Alex Ferguson has risked Football Association disciplinary action ahead of Sunday’s Premier League showdown against Chelsea by claiming that referees will not award key decisions to Manchester United in the major matches.
Frustrated: Sir Alex Ferguson reacts during his Manchester United side's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal Photo: REUTERS
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By Jeremy Wilson 7:15AM BST 02 May 2011
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Although Arsenal were also denied a penalty on Sunday, Ferguson focused on the decision of referee Chris Foy to wave away Michael Owen’s 86th-minute appeal following a challenge by Gaël Clichy.
“It was a clear penalty,” Ferguson said. “We’re not going to get decisions like that in a major game. They are too big a game. He was definitely brought down. But we’re not going to get the decisions in these big games I’m afraid.”
A 1-0 defeat means that Manchester United are now only three points clear of Chelsea, who scored a hugely controversial winner to beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday.
With the Premier League now likely to hinge on Sunday’s match at Old Trafford, Ferguson appeared to begin the mind games by provocatively contrasting some of the decisions that have gone in favour of Carlo Ancelotti’s team.
“Obviously it gives Chelsea a major chance now and that’s what happens,” Ferguson said. “They got great decisions [on Saturday] for them. We never seem to get these kind of decisions.
“They seem to be getting them. They got one to win the league at Old Trafford last season so that’s a worry. We go into these kind of games worrying about these kind of things.
“But, in terms of ability, a game at Old Trafford, the league at stake, the supporters will be ready and so will my players. It’s a must-win game. Let’s go and win it. That’s the name of the game. We’re at home. Our home record’s fantastic.”
Yesterday was only the second match back in the dugout for Ferguson after the five-game touchline ban which followed his remarks about referee Martin Atkinson when Manchester United were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in March. On that occasion, Ferguson was furious that Atkinson had not dismissed David Luiz for a second bookable offence. He described Chelsea’s winning penalty as “very soft” and said that he wanted a fair referee.
Chelsea, though, could point out that Ramires was denied a clear penalty in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final last month. At the time, Ferguson said that he felt no guilt and claimed it was the “the first penalty decision we’ve had in seven years”.
The FA guidance on post-match comments is clear. Managers are free to criticise decisions, but they should not insinuate bias. The FA are now likely to scrutinise the footage of yesterday’s post-match interviews with Sky Sports and the club’s in-house MUTV channel.
Ferguson’s outburst was particularly surprising given his acceptance that Arsenal should also have been awarded a penalty when Nemanja Vidic used his arm to deny Robin van Persie a clear goalscoring chance.
Of the incident, Van Persie said: “A clear penalty and in my opinion a straight red. We wanted it more. They played just on the counterattack.”
“It balances out in that respect but I think it was difficult to see that one,” Ferguson said. “Van Persie was the only one who complained.
A mere flick of the ball. You don’t really expect the linesman or the referee to see that. But the one at the end, Clichy knew, he put his hands up in horror. Arsenal play a lot of nice football. But they never looked like scoring.”
Writing on Twitter, Owen was rather more diplomatic but described the result as a “kick in the teeth”. He said: “Not seen TV replay but don’t need to as I know mine was a pen. Heard people saying Arsenal should of had one too so can’t complain too much. We were not happy with our performance.” Ferguson felt that his team only “started playing” once Arsenal went into the lead and, with the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Schalke on Wednesday, he will rotate his squad.
“We’ll regroup, freshen it up,” he said, “bringing Paul Scholes back in, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, fresh players. Also probably keep my experienced players at the back.
From Arsene Wenger, there was a tacit admission that his Arsenal team were fortunate to avoid a penalty for Clichy’s challenge.
“It could have been a penalty as well,” Wenger said. “I feel it was less obvious than the Vidic one by far.” Wenger also argued that Arsenal were still involved in a three-way Premier League title race but conceded United were clear favourites.
“I felt so strongly that we will win this championship – if we want to have a small chance it is in our interests for Chelsea to win,” he said.
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