Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described Sunday’s penalty controversy at Chelsea as “water under the bridge” as he focuses on the upcoming clash with Crystal Palace.
The Red Devils were controversially denied a first-half penalty during the goalless draw in west London after referee Stuart Attwell decided not to point to the spot following VAR’s call to consult the pitchside monitor in the aftermath of a possible handball by Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Solskjaer was incredulous at that decision and afterwards hit out at “outside influences” affecting United penalty decisions, criticising a “cheeky” pre-match reference to Harry Maguire on Chelsea’s official website.
United left-back Luke Shaw claimed that Attwell had told Maguire that it it would “cause a lot of talk after” if he had given a penalty after watching the pitchside monitor, though it was later clarified that Shaw had actually misheard the conversation between Attwell and Maguire.
Both Shaw and Solskjaer avoided FA action for their comments after the draw with Chelsea and Solskjaer was eager not to dwell too much on the incident during his latest press call held before Wednesday night’s trip to Selhurst Park.
"That's water under the bridge," the Norwegian said. "You move on to the next one.
"We all know it's a high-pressure situation and we just have to accept decisions when they're made and we move on.
"All my focus after the game has just been on Palace. I've not looked back at all on that."
Another much-talked-about part of that aforementioned incident at Stamford Bridge was players being in the nearby vicinity while Attwell was watching replays on the pitchside monitor, with suggestions that their presence in such scenarios heaps more pressure on referees.
“I think the refs have a difficult enough job without extra pressure,” Solskjaer said.
“We should just leave them to it, make as many good decisions as they can.”
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
