Supporters have been left baffled by the Premier League‘s explanation as to why Rayan Ait-Nouri did not concede a penalty during Wolves’ 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Monday night. The Black Country outfit suffered their first defeat under new manager Vitor Pereira but were fortunate not to have conceded more after referee Peter Bankes waved away appeals for a spot-kick as Ola Aina’s cross struck Ait-Nouri on his arm.
VAR checked the incident and agreed with the on-field decision. This caused many fans to question why the Wolves player was able to avoid punishment while Matthijs de Ligt didn’t for a similar matter during Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday. De Ligt was punished after he blocked Alexis Mac Allister’s header with his arm in an unnatural position, and VAR’s explanation on both matters has only caused more outrage online.
Following the incident at Molineux, a tweet from the Premier League Match Centre account revealed that Ait-Nouri escaped punishment as he was deemed to have his arm in a natural position when the ball struck. This is despite the fact the defender appeared to be pulling his arm in towards the ball as Aina’s cross came towards him.
The day prior, the explanation given as to why De Ligt did concede a penalty despite Michael Oliver not originally awarding one was that the Dutchman’s arm was in an unnatural position when the ball hit him.
While this is hard to argue given that the former Bayern Munich star did have his arms above his head, there was another piece of information that left fans confused. It was deemed that Ait-Nouri did not have time to move his arm out of the way of the ball before it had hit him. However, the Algerian international had far more distance between himself and Aina than De Ligt had from Mac Allister when he headed the ball.
The difference in the decisions led to some prominent names speaking out on social media. Well-known Manchester United fan Mark Goldbridge asked: “Can the PGMOL explain why De Ligt’s handball is a penalty yesterday but Ait-Nouri’s handball isn’t one? De Ligt was far closer to the ball!”
Meanwhile, former Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling described the decision as ‘one of the worst’ he had seen all season.
It is not the first time this campaign that De Ligt has been on the receiving end of a controversial penalty call. Many were left dumbfounded when he was penalised in the 90th minute against West Ham for a challenge on Danny Ings, a decision that would ultimately cost Erik ten Hag his job as Manchester United manager.
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