OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER fears Jurgen Klopp’s whinging is costing Manchester United penalty awards.
Cristiano Ronaldo was denied two clear pens against West Ham in the Premier League last Sunday as well as one in Europe against Young Boys.
Then on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup Jesse Lingard’s claims were turned down after he had his shirt pulled by Mark Noble.
United boss Solskjaer said: “We just have to hope we get what we deserve.
“We should have had three pens in the last two games.
“There was a certain manager who worried about us getting pens last year and after that the decisions were diff to give, I’ve seen a big difference since then on.
“I will have it to the refs to make the right calls very soon.”
Last January after a 1-0 defeat at Southampton in which Liverpool had two penalty claims turned down, Klopp had a dig at United.
Klopp said: “Man United had more penalties in two years than me in five-and-a-half years.”
Solskjaer will have felt a huge sense of injustice at The London Stadium last Sunday had David De Gea not come to his rescue in injury time.
After Ronaldo had two claims denied West Ham were awarded a penalty but De Gea denied Mark Noble as United won 2-1.
It was further proof of De Gea’s return to form which Solskjaer puts down to the Spaniard returning early from his holidays to put in the hard work on the training ground.
He is now the clear number one again after Dean Henderson’s start to the season was delayed by long-Covid.
The United boss said: “He ended his summer holidays early to come back and start his pre-season.
“He wanted to be ready, and be the best possible version of himself.
“Last season was a challenging one, he didn’t play as many games because Dean came in and did very well.
“David has really worked and focused. Physically and mentally he’s better and when you feel you’ve done the work and got personal bests in a few physical tests, it gives you more confidence and motivation.
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“He plays behind a strong back four but to play in front of David when he’s in this form it is good for them.”
United go into tomorrow’s lunchtime kick-off at home to Aston Villa joint top on points with Chelsea and Liverpool who have all won four and drawn one.
Solskjaer said: “It’s early doors but it’s important in the first two months that you’re not giving teams a headstart and so far 13 points is a decent return.
“We have scored quite a few goals, there are still things to work on and there’ll be difficult challenges ahead, but we’ve laid a foundation to build momentum and hope to do that against Aston Villa.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
