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Manchester City were awarded a penalty after a VAR review which opened the scoring in their local derby win over Manchester United – but while pundits were mostly in agreement with the call on this occasion, it was a non-penalty which generated discussion later on.<\/p>\n
Rodri was dragged back inside the penalty box when a free-kick was swung over for the visitors, with nothing initially being given.<\/p>\n
However, the City midfielder appealed vociferously that he was impeded by United striker Rasmus Hojlund, with replays showing an arm across the Spanish player\u2019s chest before he went to ground – and a subsequent check by the video assistant resulted in a spot-kick being given, dispatched by Erling Haaland.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the break on Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher noted it wasn\u2019t the most aggressive of challenges and that the hosts could be mildly aggrieved at having it go against them; not necessarily because it was clearly not a foul, but because they\u2019d have similar situations themselves which wouldn\u2019t result in a penalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel a bit for United because every team can show an incident like that which they can say they should have had one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Alongside him, Micah Richards felt similarly: \u201cHe might have got a head on it. It\u2019s soft but in the rules, its definitely a foul.\u201d But both former players suggested Rodri\u2019s reaction might have had an influence on the outcome more than the actuality or severity of Hojlund\u2019s actions, with only Gary Neville describing it as a \u201csoft\u201d decision later on.<\/p>\n
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However for the third ex-pro in the studio, Roy Keane, it was Hojlund himself who drew attention.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the City opener, the Danish striker surged clear and tried to dribble around goalkeeper Ederson, keeping his feet but failing to get a shot away – which Keane said was a clear mistake given the match situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan City have been sloppy giving the ball away but United have to make the most of [those chances],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Scott] McTominay\u2019s got to be decisive [with his shooting chance], Hojland has to go down for a penalty. I\u2019m not saying to cheat but if he falls into the keeper, we see it all the time. If he goes down and kicks into the goalkeeper, it\u2019s a penalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are big moments but credit to the keeper. United have been poor but have had one or two chances – they\u2019ve got to take them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after the restart, Haaland scored a second before later teeing up Phil Foden for Man City\u2019s third.<\/p>\n
Gary Neville suggested the second-half performance from United was a \u201cshambles\u201d and that they had been \u201cobliterated\u201d by their local rivals, despite feeling the opening penalty was a generous call.<\/p>\n