Prabhat Vaibhav

Solskjaer at his cheeky best when asked about Zaha penalty claim after Palace win

Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Crystal Palace felt hard done by VAR on more than one occasion on Thursday night as Manchester United ran away with a 2-0 victory at the Selhurst Park Stadium.

Victor Lindelof appeared to have brought down Wilfred Zaha in the penalty box right on the cusp of the 45-minute mark.

The initial appeals were waived off by referee Graham Scott with VAR reviewing the incident as play went on.

The Eagles were left fuming when VAR awarded the decision in Lindelof’s favour.

As luck would have it, Marcus Rashford went on to score two minutes after the incident.

As if the decision itself wasn’t painful enough for Palace already, Jordan Ayew’s finish 10 minutes into the second half was ruled out by the VAR. The replay shows that the difference was extremely marginal.

Man United have seen numerous decisions overturned by VAR in their favour over the course of the season. This turn of events has led rivals to believe there is an ongoing conspiracy favoring the Red Devils.

However, United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not seem to pay heed to the accusations. In an interview following the game, the Norwegian was asked about his opinion on the decision.

Examining the replay of the coming together, Solskjaer replied, ‘looks like Victor got the ball first. There you go.’

Further getting pressed over the incident, the 47-year-old coolly said, ‘ball first.’

That cheeky smirk at the end and his overall demeanour left United fans rather impressed.