The man who scored the decisive penalty for Everton yesterday should have been given his marching orders for a foul on Danny Welbeck towards the end of the game.

Phil Jagielka has today confessed that he was lucky Mike Riley chose to ignore Manchester United’s penalty claims when Welbeck was brought down.

“I did touch him,” he confessed. “I don’t know how much that contributed to him going down. Maybe I got lucky, but we’ll take that luck.”

Given that Welbeck had already rounded the keeper, it is silly to suggest he might have dived.

Two trips to Wembley, two stonewall pens turned down.

My only hope is that following the pressure referee’s have felt not to give us decisions of late, we’ll start seeing more of them in this crucial part of the season to come.




------------
The RoM Manchester United 2024-25 season preview is now available. It includes articles from the country's best football writers about our expectations for the season ahead and our brightest talents, as well as proposed transfer business and which youth players to keep an eye out for. All profit goes to The Christie so please support this fantastic cause.