Man Utd followers left livid as ‘Lionel Messi-esque’ Amad Diallo denied penalty

Manchester United fans were left furious after they were denied a “stonewall penalty” against PAOK.

Amad Diallo was the man of the moment in the early stages of the game, and his mazy runs had found himself on the byline. The Ivorian skipped inside where he was met by Baba Rahman, who seemed to bundle him over.

VAR checked the challenge and decided to stick with the referee’s on field decision – leaving Red Devils fans furious on social media. One fan, posting on X (formerly known as Twitter), said: “There’s definite contact, he doesn’t win the ball and clearly takes Amad out… how the hell has VAR not corrected the decision?”

“How is that not a penalty on Amad? Baba didn’t get the ball and came down on Amad’s foot,” a second fumed. While a third posted: “That’s a clear penalty. IDK how these ref’s hate United so much!”

“Disgraceful decision from VAR not to give Amad a penalty,” a fourth shared. And another added: “How is is that not a penalty?! He didn’t touch the ball!”

Amad was given the nod by interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy on Thursday evening – and he quickly proved his worth, with some fans even joking he was playing like Lionel Messi.

“Don’t shoot me but Amad plays a bit like Messi,” one fan said. Whole another added: “Amad was legit running like Messi there. Everything about it!”

United were in search for their first European win of the season against PAOK, and the Dutchman had made the big call to drop Marcus Rashford for Amad. The Ivorian seized the opportunity with open arms – putting a great shop window display for incoming boss Ruben Amorim.