Staff Reporter.
Manchester United dropped points against West Brom on Sunday as they came from a goal behind to secure a 1-1 draw.
Bruno Fernandes helped United rescue a point as his first half strike cancelled out Mbaye Diagne’s early goal.
United moved back above Leicester in second place, but are now seven points behind leaders Manchester City, who also have a game in hand.
The Baggies took a shock lead after just 83 seconds as on-loan striker Mbaye Diagne outmuscled Victor Lindelof to head in from Conor Gallagher’s cross.
United where finding it difficult to make inroads in a lacklustre opening period until Fernandes hooked Luke Shaw’s cross into the top corner with his weaker left foot.
The visitors improved in the second half, Mason Greenwood testing Sam Johnstone with a low strike and Scott McTominay seeing his follow up cleared off the line.
With time running out, skipper Harry Maguire leapt to send his header towards the top corner, but Johnstone tipped the effort against the post to deny United an injury-time winner.
“We were so certain it was a penalty,” Maguire added.
“Not sure why they needed to send him [the referee] to a monitor. The clip was minimal but it was a penalty. It seems like the decisions are going against us.
“We can’t be relying on VAR decisions. We have to improve.”
Sam Allardyce’s side could have won it themselves late on, but Diagne struck his effort over the crossbar from six yards out.
Though they claimed a draw, West Brom remain in deep trouble at the wrong end of the table, second from bottom and 12 points from safety.
Meanwhile Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said video refereeing was “destroying the game” as he reacted to a controversial penalty decision during Southampton’s defeat by Wolves.
Danny Ings scored in the 25th minute to give Saints a 1-0 lead, and Hasenhuttl’s men comfortably held the advantage until Wolves were awarded a second-half penalty when Ryan Bertrand blocked Nelson Semedo’s attempted cross with his arm.
The point of contention was whether the left-back’s arm was in an unnatural position. The VAR team, led by official Martin Atkinson, saw no need for the on-field referee to reconsider his initial decision to award the kick.
Ruben Neves scored from the spot before Pedro Neto produced a dazzling winner for the visitors.
The match was a tale of two halves, with the visitors improving markedly as an attacking force after the break.
The home side controlled the opening period and took the lead when Ings scored with a brilliant volley after he was picked out by Stuart Armstrong.
The game turned seven minutes into the second half when Neves converted from the spot. Wolves, buoyed by the goal, went on the front foot and took the lead when Neto jinked his way past Jannik Vestergaard before threading his angled strike between Jan Bednarek and keeper Alex McCarthy.
Saints pressed for an equaliser but were thwarted by Wolves stopper Rui Patricio who made a double save from James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams.
Wolves go 12th in the Premier League table, a point and a place above Southampton.