‘Incorrect’—Man Utd Handed Gut Punch After Controversial Disallowed Goal Ruled a Mistake

The game marked more dropped points for the Red Devils in the Premier League.

Lisandro Martínez was wrongly thought to have fouled Kyle Walker. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Manchester United are ruled to have been denied a fair goal scored by Lisandro Martínez in this month’s 2–2 draw against Burnley in the Premier League, following a formal review of the incident.

Martínez netted what he thought was an equaliser in the first half of the game at Turf Moor, with United trailing 1–0 at that stage after Burnley had taken the lead through an Ayden Heaven own goal.

Moments before the Argentine defender turned the ball into the net, he made minor contact with Clarets defender Kyle Walker. Referee Stuart Attwell decided that constituted a foul on the former Manchester City veteran and awarded a Burnley free-kick, chalking off the goal.

The goal was not allowed to stand. | Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

However, the Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has ruled that was a mistake and the goal should have stood. The panel was split 3–2 in favour of the on-field referee being wrong.

“The contact was exaggerated by Walker and the decision to disallow the goal for a foul was incorrect,” the panel concluded.

However, the panel voted 4–1 in support of VAR Craig Pawson for not intervening: “The decision not to intervene by VAR was split but supported on the basis it wasn’t a clear and obvious error.”

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Man Utd Wasteful in Front of Goal in Burnley Draw

Benjamin Šeško scored twice but other chances were not taken. | Zohaib Alam/MUFC/Manchester United/Getty Images

The game was caretaker manager Darren Fletcher’s first of two games in charge following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim. The Scot, who has since returned to his former role as U-18s manager once Michael Carrick was brought in on an interim basis, won neither.

The confirmation that Martínez’s goal should have stood will certainly come as a gut punch. That said, whether it necessarily changed the outcome of the game and directly contributed to United’s failure to collect maximum points is up for debate.

Benjamin Šeško did go on to equalise shortly after half-time, before putting the Red Devils in front with his second of the game 10 minutes later. Jaidon Anthony’s Burnley equaliser 66 minutes in, with considerable time left, completed the scoring and ensured the points were shared.

Over the course of the game, United had enough chances to win. Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu both had attempts cleared off the line, while teenage substitute Shea Lacey hit the bar and Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka pulled off six saves. The overall stats revealed that Burnley accrued just 0.24 expected goals (xG), compared to United’s 2.55, and the latter saw three “big chances” missed.

Wastefulness in front of goal and slack defending ultimately contributed more to dropping points than a refereeing error, even though there is a valid sense of injustice attached to the result now.

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