Man Utd benefit from ‘worst penalty decision ever’ with fans left in shock at freak handball call vs Bournemouth

MANCHESTER UNITED were awarded a controversial penalty in their clash against Bournemouth.

The penalty was given after the ball ricocheted off a Bournemouth player and onto the arm of Adam Smith.

The incident came when Kobbie Mainoo lashed a shot at Ryan Christie.

The ball came off Christie at some pace and almost instantly deflected the ball into Smith's arm.

The ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, despite the decision looking harsh.

A VAR review concluded that Smith had moved his arm towards the ball and therefore the decision should stand.

While it looked that way in slow motion, in real time it looked impossible to react that quickly.

Many fans were incensed by that decision on X, however.

One fan posted: "My god that is one of the worst penalty decisions I've ever seen."

A second fan posted to say: "WHAT on earth is this? Nobody outside of the Big 6 is getting this.

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"They skew and try their best to prop these teams up the league I'm convinced."

A third fan posted: ";Softest of soft penalties."

While a fourth said: "How was that a penalty?"

A fifth added: "Never a penalty."

The pen was eventually converted by United captain Bruno Fernandes for his second of the game.

The chance to convert from the spot gave United a lifeline to make it 2-2 in a game Bournemouth had dominated to that point.