Man Utd penalty row as ex-Premier League ref fires back 'I didn't say that at all'

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Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd clashed over the decision not to award Manchester United a penalty during the opening period of their 4-2 victory over Brighton . United maintained their impressive form under Ruben Amorim with another commanding performance at Old Trafford.

The Reds surged into a 3-0 advantage courtesy of strikes from Matheus Cunha, Casemiro and Bryan Mbeumo before the Seagulls fought back. Mbeumo netted his third goal in two matches during stoppage time to propel United to sixth place in the Premier League standings.

Nevertheless, frustrated United fans would've feared the worst when, with the score still at 0-0, Amad failed to win a penalty after tumbling inside the area early on, reports the Manchester Evening News . The wing-back appeared to be caught by Maxim De Cuyper, but referee Anthony Taylor swiftly dismissed any appeals for a penalty.

A statement from the Premier League Match Centre account on X confirmed: "The referee's call of no penalty to Manchester United was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that De Cuyper played the ball."

Following the match, Gallagher and Bothroyd discussed a series of contentious refereeing calls, including Amad's incident. Yet they were unable to find common ground, and their disagreement turned fiery.

Bothroyd stated: "This is a definite penalty for me. Amad Diallo is running into the box. There is the slightest touch.

"The defender, he puts his leg out, so obviously he has made contact. He touched the ball slightly, but that contact, has stopped Amad getting to the ball.

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"So whether he has touched the ball or not, and it's a minuscule that he has touched that, because the ball is basically travelling in the same direction, he has stopped Amad getting to that. That's why I would say that is a penalty.

"It's the same as [Viktor] Gyokeres, again the smallest touch. These touches are not enough to say, 'Oh he has touched the ball. It can't be a penalty,' because players can still get back to the ball. That's why I would say the Amad one is a penalty."

Gallagher, who officiated matches at the highest level for more than 15 years, took a different view from Bothroyd and referred to similar incidents to explain why the call was made.

He said: "It's interesting we have seen Gyokeres with Pope, we saw Saka with Kevin and we've seen this one, they've been consistent - if they get a touch on the ball, they are not going to give a penalty, they've done it for week six, week eight and week nine."

Bothroyd then replied: "But they did not do it for week five when Sanchez touched the ball and Mbeumo goes through. So they've changed the rule after week five is basically what you are saying."

Unhappy with the comment, Gallagher then fired back: "I didn't say that at all. I said since the Gyokeres one, where they came out and said, 'He's got a touch on the ball.' In this situation, they have been consistent, as you've asked for, and they haven't given any of them."

The decision had little sway on the outcome as United romped into a 3-0 win before sealing victory with a stoppage-time strike after Brighton set up a nervy finish. The victory leaves Amorim's side in sixth place, just six points off league leaders Arsenal .