Paddy Ponders Penalty Dearth

Manchester United legend Paddy Crerand is mystified by the low number of penalties that have been awarded to the Reds in 2016/17, although he has some sympathy for referees.

United are one of three teams who have been given only a single spot-kick in 23 Premier League games so far. That tally remained the same following Wednesday's 0-0 draw against Hull City, when the Reds were denied a possible penalty when Zlatan Ibrahimovic went to ground following a collision with Tom Huddlestone.

Writing in his column for United Review before Wednesday's match, MUTV pundit Crerand stated his personal belief that Jose Mourinho's team can feel hard done by in relation to refereeing decisions inside the area this season.

"It almost feels like there is an agenda against United when it comes to penalties and the lack of them in our favour," Paddy wrote. "We're joint bottom of the table for penalties given, alongside Middlesbrough and West Brom – we’ve all had just one awarded to us in the Premier League this season. From our point of view, it’s crazy when you think how often we attack and get ourselves into the opposition box.

"I bet we get into the box more times than most teams in the league. I’m still baffled by the penalty that was given against us at Hull [in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg] and after the referee gave that I was even more baffled that he didn’t give the one for Chris Smalling.

"I don’t think the standard of refereeing is great but I understand how difficult their job is and they don’t seem to get much help from their assistants. Nevertheless, the fact we’ve only had one penalty in the league is unbelievable."

United's only spot-kick in the Premier League campaign to date was awarded in the home win over Southampton on 19 August, following a foul on Luke Shaw. Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted it to complete his goalscoring double on the night as the Reds triumphed 2-0.