Howard Webb Acknowledges Wrong Decision on Penalty That Led to Erik ten Hag's Man Utd Sacking

The penalty that handed West Ham a 2-1 win over Manchester United, in what became Erik ten Hag's final game in charge, should not have been awarded, according to referees' chief Howard Webb.

In stoppage time on October 27, Matthijs de Ligt was judged to have fouled West Ham forward Danny Ings in the box, leading to a penalty. Jarrod Bowen converted from the spot to give the Hammers the win.

Ten Hag was sacked less than 24 hours later as United manager, with the club in 14th place in the Premier League at the time, in his third season at the helm.

On-field referee David Coote initially did not give a penalty after the incident, and while Ings was on the ground, there was no significant appeal from West Ham players. However, video assistant referee Michael Oliver urged Coote to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.

After around two minutes of deliberation, Coote pointed to the spot despite Ings seemingly handling the ball before the collision with De Ligt.

The Times reports that Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), has publicly stated his disagreement with the decision to award a penalty in the West Ham vs. Manchester United match. Webb believes the penalty should not have been given.

Webb will discuss this incident and other key decisions on the "Match Officials Mic'd Up" programme during the upcoming international break, although the specific flashpoints to be covered have not yet been revealed. It is expected that the controversial penalty will be among the topics addressed.

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Erik ten Hag expressed his frustration with the decision after the match. While the decision to sack him was based on various factors beyond this one result, it's unlikely he would have been dismissed so quickly had United scored a late winner in the game.

Speaking after the match, Ten Hag said: "It was so difficult to see. Before the season there was the instruction about VAR only interfering in clear and obvious mistakes. That is definitely not a clear and obvious mistake from the on field referee.

"I spoke with them (the officials). But the decision is made. There's no way back and that's football. That's a third time I have felt injustice in the season and it has a big impact on our team and on our scores and where we are in the table. It's not right."