Paul Scholes says the decision not to award United a penalty against Fulham last Saturday could prove the fatal blow to United´s Premiership title aspirations.
Louis Saha was clearly brought down by Fulham´s Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar as the French striker surged through on goal. However, to the disbelief of United onlookers, referee Alan Wiley decided not to award a spot-kick - a decision that baffled Paul Scholes.
" The keeper went straight across Louis Saha," Scholes told MUTV. " It´s not even debatable. The referee had a really good view of it. I read somewhere that he said he couldn´t be 100% sure. But, he was 20 yards away from it. How he can´t see it from there I´ll never know."
And Scholes believes the decision could prove crucial come the end of the season. " It could be massive," said Scholes. " We´ll just have to wait and see. We might not have scored the penalty anyway, but we had Louis Saha on the field at the time and he is a good penalty-taker. You would have put money on him scoring.
" We´ve got to start winning games if we´re going to make anything happen. If we concentrate on ourselves and win our games then hopefully that pressure will tell on Arsenal."
Paul Scholes
" That would have left us a little bit closer to Arsenal. It means we´ve missed out on another two points."
Scholes´ annoyance at the match officials doesn´t end there. Ruud van Nistelrooy was booked before even coming on as a substitute at Loftus Road, summing up the United midfielder´s frustration.
" That was just a case of being petty," added Scholes. " There´s no need to do it. The referee was like that all the way through the game. He stopped the match at any sign of contact. That spoiled the game really."
Despite dropping to third place behind Chelsea, nine points adrift of Premiership-leaders Arsenal, Scholes still believes if United can put together a winning run, the Gunners may start to feel the pressure.
" We´ve got to start winning our games if we´re going to make anything happen. The sooner we start doing that the better. You never know - if we concentrate on ourselves and win our games then hopefully that pressure will tell on Arsenal."
< <<< il n´a pas tout a fait tort non plus . c´est un scandale ce penalty . j´ai revu les images ca frise l´incomprehensible . on peut se trmper mais la je trouve ca gros .