The Premier League has issued a statement after Sunderland were denied a penalty in the first half against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. Trai Hume went down inside the United box following a challenge from Benjamin Sesko and the referee pointed to the spot. However, after VAR checked the incident, the on-field official reversed his decision.
Hume went down but Sunderland denied penalty
The incident happened towards the end of the first half when a ball was sent towards Hume inside the penalty area. Sesko attempted to block Hume but the Sunderland star immediately went down on the ground. On-field referee Stuart Atwell initially pointed to the spot, but after a VAR check the decision was reversed.
AdvertisementAFPPremier League release statement
After VAR overturned the penalty call, the Premier League released a statement to clarify the VAR's decision, as it read: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Sunderland."
Referee announcement: “After review, there is no foul by the Manchester United player. He does not make contact with the head of the attacker. As the ball is out of play when the decision was made, the final decision is corner kick."
Sesko scored in consecutive matches
After a slow start to life at Old Trafford since completing his big-money move to the Premier League in the summer transfer window, Sesko finally got off the mark during the club's 3-1 defeat at Brentford. The Slovenian forward has now scored his second goal for United in back-to-back matches as he also found the back of the net to hand United a 2-0 lead over Sunderland. Mason Mount had earlier opened the scoring for the Red Devils.
AFPSesko hopes to find form for Slovenia
Along with his poor form in club football, Sesko also struggled to score goals for Slovenia in their last five international matches. After scoring back-to-back games for United, he will now hope to replicate a similar form for his national team when they face Kosovo and Switzerland in the World Cup qualifiers later this month.