Premier League offer explanation after VAR controversy in Fulham vs Man Utd

Manchester United were awarded a penalty following an intervention from VAR after Mason Mount was thrown to the ground by Fulham defender, Calvin Bassey, during a corner.

The incident seemed to go unnoticed by the match officials in play. But after being instructed to review the clash on a pitchside monitor, referee Chris Kavanagh explained to fans that Bassey was being penalised for dragging Mount down in the penalty area.

A post on the Premier League Match Centre X account confirmed Kavanagh's verdict, saying: "After a VAR review, the referee overturned the original call of no penalty for a challenge by Bassey on Mount. Referee announcement: 'After review, Fulham number 3 pulls the Manchester (United) player to the ground. The final decision is penalty kick'."

Unfortunately for Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes spurned his golden opportunity from the spot and lashed the penalty way over the crossbar. That miss meant the half ended goalless despite a flurry of chances for both teams.

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During a dissection of the spot-kick shortly after Fernandes' miss, Gary Neville pointed out that an accidental bump from the referee seemed to distract the United captain just before he stepped up for the penalty.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: "He [Fernandes] picked the ball up, then he bundles into referee a bit. He gave him a bit of a bump by accident, and he goes back. It just unnerved him a little bit.

"I thought it was because the referee was adjusting the players on the edge of the box, but he's still having a go, Bruno Fernandes, at the referee, because he feel that was a little bit clumsy."

United made changes shortly after the half-time interval in a bid to try and break the deadlock, throwing on Benjamin Sesko to lead the line. But it was Leny Yoro, United's young centre-back, whose header was diverted into the Fulham goal by the unfortunate Rodrigo Muniz just before the hour mark.

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