Does Shaw & Solskjaer escaping bans suggest Stuart Attwell did state Man United should have been awarded penalty vs Chelsea?

Manchester United pair Luke Shaw and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer escaping FA punishment for their post-Chelsea comments on Sunday have since seen the finger of blame widely pointed at Stuart Attwell.

‘Told it was a penalty’

One of English football’s major talking points this past weekend of course surrounded an incident at Stamford Bridge.

The clash – which saw Chelsea play host to Man United in a crunch meeting in the race for European football – eventually ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

Visitors United, however, were left to feel rather aggrieved by the eventual result.

This came with the Red Devils adamant that they should have been awarded an early spot-kick, following a coming together between Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Greenwood in the Chelsea box:

NO PENALTY ❌⚽️

The ball strikes Hudson-Odoi’s hand in the box and Stuart Attwell consults the pitch-side monitor before deciding against awarding the penalty.

📺 Watch on Sky Sports PL
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— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 28, 2021

In the end, referee Stuart Attwell came to the conclusion that Hudson-Odoi’s actions were not worthy of a spot-kick.

The controversy, however, did not end there.

Speaking during a post-match interview, Luke Shaw suggested that Attwell had in fact informed Harry Maguire that he didn’t award a penalty in an attempt to avoid a fallout surrounding the incident:

‘The ref even said to H [Harry Maguire] that if I say it is a pen then it is going to cause a lot of talk afterwards. H got told it was a penalty.’

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, meanwhile, did little to quell the drama when drawn on Shaw’s claims during an interview of his own:

‘I can’t say, because that’s not going to be good for him. Of course it is [concerning] — I didn’t say it, I don’t want to cause controversy. It’s not right is it?’

The Norwegian went on to add:

‘It’s all these outside influences.’

‘We’ve seen… Was it Frank [Lampard] who started it? There’s loads of talk about us getting penalties when there is no doubt whatsoever and now of course we should have had a penalty. That’s as clear as it is.’

🗣 “It’s all these outside influences, it’s cheeky when they put that on their website, that’s influencing the referees. You can read it.” 😡

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vents his frustrations about the penalty that wasn’t given pic.twitter.com/7YK22ja6Oo

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 28, 2021

Attwell targeted

Such comments on the part of the United pair unsurprisingly saw an FA investigation opened earlier today, amid the widespread expectation that some form of sanction was set to be forthcoming.

It therefore came as something of a surprise when word arrived just hours later that Shaw and Solskjaer had been cleared, after it was decided that neither were in violation of the FA’s rules and regulations:

NEW: FA will take no action over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Luke Shaw media comments in relation to match officials yesterday. FA does not consider comments to be breaches of its rules and regulations. #MUFC #SSN

— Bryan Swanson (@skysports_bryan) March 1, 2021

As outlined above, however, the governing body’s decision, in turn, has only resulted in further chatter spreading amongst fans.

This comes amid the suggestion that the Red Devils duo escaping a ban – despite others having been punished for far less – points towards Shaw’s comments on Attwell in fact being true.

Manchester United themselves released a statement last night, retracting the claims of their in-form stopper.

However, many have since insinuated that this likely came at the FA’s behest, after the Old Trafford hierarchy were made aware that neither Shaw nor Solskjaer would be facing a ban.

Such efforts would all come in a bid to avoid an official investigation being opened into Attwell’s ‘misheard’ comments, which, if proven accurate, would throw both the official and FA into hot water:

It’s because the chances are Attwell did say what Maguire claimed.

But let’s all clap for these referees https://t.co/g1efi0dNNT

— Samy* (@sazzam31) March 1, 2021

Which screams that the FA knows #Attwell did in fact say what he did to Maguire… and is a coward who should never officiate a football match again https://t.co/6DvZkiJQDQ

— Rob (@PTG_SDLROB) March 1, 2021

So the ref did actually said that….
So @FA now it’s time to show the same energy you showed to fine Cavani, to now fine/sack Stuart Attwell……@FA ? https://t.co/mBJwkYFvcd

— SKG (@SKGUnited) March 1, 2021

Which strongly suggests the referee DID say what he’s supposed to have said.. when are we going to see him dealt with!?? #Attwell https://t.co/eBprceLbOr

— Matt Olley (@Matolski) March 1, 2021

😂😂😂 Because they know what they said was true.

— Jordan (@FourFourJordan) March 1, 2021

So they listened to the audio and decided they didn’t want to have to release it if United challenged any sanctions… pic.twitter.com/7uwQfuVeGX

— LTono Fernandes (@LJC_85) March 1, 2021

You love to see it!

Probably didn’t want it investigated further because they were telling the truth.

— Alex (@AA_utd) March 1, 2021

I think Shaw did hear the ref say that, United retracted his comments to protect the Ref and the FA/Integrity of the premier league. Luke Shaw is a 25 year old Footballer and speaks really well in interviews. He wouldn’t have said them comments unless he was 100% sure.

— Manchester United (@manutd17_) March 1, 2021

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