Rasmus Hojlund told he was lucky his reaction didn't cost Man Utd dearly against Chelsea
Rasmus Hojlund largely struggled as Manchester United played out a draw with Chelsea on Sunday, with the Danish international striker now being blasted for his performance
by Jacob Leeks · The MirrorRasmus Hojlund has been warned he almost cost Manchester United a point in their draw with Chelsea.
Hojlund started Sunday's Premier League clash at Old Trafford and largely struggled, having just one touch inside the Chelsea box. That touch proved to be crucial though, as he won the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring.
The Dane took advantage of a mistake from Wesley Fofana, who allowed Casemiro's ball forward to sail over him. Hojlund took a touch to move the ball past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez.
Sanchez rushed out to close down the United star but was too late and caught Hojlund on the ankle. The striker duly fell to the ground, with referee Robert Jones awarding a penalty, from which Fernandes stepped up to score.
But former Premier League referee Jeff Winter believes Hojlund was fortunate to be awarded the spot-kick. Winter warned that the Dane could easily have been judged to have dived by Jones.
"I've looked at it and looked at it, and the reason I've had to look at it so many times is really because of Hojlund’s reaction. He goes down and it’s just like a swallow dive," Winter told Grosvenor Casino.
"If the referee is a yard or so either side of the optimum viewing position, that is the sort of thing that can sway against the awarding of the penalty. There did appear to be minimal contact, which is good enough for a penalty.
"But his reaction could well have cost him the penalty, with it being totally against anything you'd expect from that level of contact. He was trying to convince the referee, and it's worked because it was one of those that was very close to call.
"With the referee giving it, there wasn’t enough evidence not to overturn the penalty. But when players make these swallow dives to try encouraging the referee to make a decision, many times it goes against them."
While Winter insisted Hojlund got lucky, former United skipper Gary Neville blasted Sanchez for his 'rash' decision-making. He also took aim at Fofana for his critical error which led to the foul.
"I thought it was poor from Fofana, he got under the ball and there's been a battle developing between Fofana and Rasmus Hojlund. A smart keeper would keep his hands away. It is so rash," Neville told Sky Sports.
"Bruno Fernandes' contributions have been high. He looks at Sanchez and sees him go left and swings it right. Ruud van Nistelrooy celebrates like he's scored himself. Over the game Chelsea have been the better team, but they have been asking for trouble in the last 10 minutes."
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