Manchester United boss Ten Hag slams ‘unfair and unjust’ penalty after defeat at West Ham

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was left fuming after his side conceded a contentious late penalty to lose 2-1 to West Ham United at the London Stadium on Sunday.

The Red Devils wasted several clear chances in the first half of the Premier League contest with Alejandro Garnacho rattling the crossbar and Diogo Dalot firing over with the goal gaping in front of him.

Those first-half misses came back to haunt them as Crysencio Summerville found the breakthrough for West Ham in the 76th minute before Casemiro netted a late equaliser for Ten Hag’s side.

But a controversial penalty, awarded for a foul on Danny Ings by Matthijs de Ligt, ensured West Ham secured the three points as Jarrod Bowen slotted past Andre Onana in the 92nd minute from 12 yards and piled more pressure on the United boss.

“We have felt injustice three times this season. We have to score. We created so many chances. We should've been two or three goals up. In the second half, we were forcing it, but we allowed them into the game,” Ten Hag told BBC Sport.

“When you are losing 1-0, you need the big personality and character of the team and we showed resilience to get back into it. But it was unfair and unjust, the way we conceded the penalty."

Referee David Coote awarded the penalty against United in the 87th minute after looking at the pitchside monitor despite protestations from the visiting players that Ings had handled the ball before the challenge from De Ligt.

-6.6 - Manchester United have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the Premier League this season (8 goals from 14.6 xG). Frustration. pic.twitter.com/0gpsqn5iWZ

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 27, 2024

"It was so difficult to see. Before the season, there was the instruction about VAR only interfering in clear and obvious mistakes. That is definitely not a clear and obvious mistake from the on-field referee,” Ten Hag said.

"More frustrations, but I can do nothing with that. They don't collect points and that's what we have to do. We have to look in the mirror. We don't score in a good game from our side. Create loads of chances and concede none, but when you lose in this way it's a bad feeling.

"I spoke with the officials. But the decision is made. There's no way back and that's football. That's the third time I have felt injustice in the season and it has a big impact on our team and on our scores and where we are in the table. It's not right."

United’s defeat came despite them attempting 18 shots and generating an xG of 2.12. West Ham, meanwhile, attempted 11 of their 12 shots in the second half and ended with an xG of 2.98 and, more importantly, the three points.

The Red Devils are now 14th in the table with 11 points from nine matches, while West Ham leapfrogged them to 13th place on goal difference after Sunday’s result.

United will welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford in their next Premier League fixture while the Hammers travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.