Erik ten Hag’s job could have been saved! Howard Webb claims VAR wrong to award West Ham late penalty which saw Man Utd manager sacked after troubling defeat

Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham proved to be the Dutchman’s last as Red Devils boss with the club finally running out of patience after the match. The winning goal came from the penalty spot after a clash between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings. Match referee David Coote did not give the penalty at the time but subsequently awarded a spot-kick after being told to review the incident by VAR Michael Oliver. Webb, who is the chief refereeing officer at PGMOL, thinks it was an error to give the penalty and has already made his opinion on the matter known, according to The Times.

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  The result left Manchester United down in 14th place in the table and with Ten Hag bemoaning his bad luck after the game. The decision was then taken to fire Ten Hag and appoint Ruud van Nistelrooy as the club’s interim manager. Van Nistelrooy has since overseen a 5-2 win over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup and a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Manchester United have subsequently confirmed that Sporting boss Ruben Amorim will be the club’s next permanent head coach and will start work at Old Trafford on November 11.

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  Manchester United have won just 12 Premier League points so far this season, their worst return after 10 games of a league campaign since 1986-87.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD

  Van Nistelrooy will oversee Manchester United’s next two games against PAOK in the Europa League and Leicester in the Premier League before stepping aside for Amorim. The 39-year-old will take charge of United for the first time against Ipswich Town on November 23.