Solskjaer slams ‘cheeky’ post on Chelsea website as Man Utd boss says Blues ‘influence referees’ after penalty drama
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER says a ‘cheeky’ post on Chelsea’s website may have influenced referees as Manchester United did not receive a penalty in their goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
The United boss was referring to an article on Chelsea’s official site that referenced a controversial decision in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports about the decision, Solskjaer said: “It’s all these outside influences.
“Even the VAR talk before the game on Harry [Maguire]. It’s cheeky when they put that on their website.
“That’s influencing the referees.”
When reporter Geoff Shreeves asked Solskjaer what he was referring to, he said: “You can go back and look on their website.”
Attwell decided not to award a penalty after the ball flicked Callum Hudson-Odoi’s hand in Chelsea’s box.
The referee went to the pitch-side monitor to watch a replay of the incident.
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Solskjaer was seen pleading with the linesman but it made little difference as the game finished 0-0.
His comments came just minutes after Luke Shaw claimed Attwell told Harry Maguire people would ‘talk afterwards’ if he gave a penalty.
Shaw told Sky Sports: “At the time I saw a handball but I wasn’t sure whether it was Mason (Greenwood) or Callum.
“I don’t know why they checked for a pen, if it’s not going to be a pen I don’t think they needed to stop.
“I even heard the ref say to H ‘if I say it’s going to be a pen, it’s going to cause a lot of talk afterwards’. I don’t know what happened there.”
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The article on Chelsea’s website, which was published two days ago, criticised referring decisions from previous meetings between the sides.
It read: “In recent Chelsea meetings the Red Devils’ centre-back [Maguire] has survived VAR reviews of a potential penalty foul on Cesar Azpilicueta and violent challenge on Michy Batshuayi that may well have affected the outcome.”
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