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Every penalty Manchester United have won this season in the Premier League

Have Manchester United been lucky with the amount of penalties they have won this season?

here has been much chatter regarding the amount of penalties Manchester United have been awarded of late.

They have won nine penalties this season with eight of them being converted - a conversion rate nobody could argue with.
Did they deserve all nine of them, though? To many people's eyes, no.

The debate has given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men a reputation of earning fouls inside the 12-yard box far too easily, something which the Norwegian mentioned when his team were denied a penalty against Chelsea by Stuart Atwell.

"When you look at it on the video, it's taken two points away from us… It's all these outside influences, even the VAR talk before the game here on Harry, when they put that on the website, that's cheeky. It's influencing referees," Solskjaer told Sky Sports in his post-match interview.
With plenty of talk about Man United's love affair with penalties this campaign, here is a look at all of the penalties awarded to Man United thus far in the 2020/21 Premier League season.

Brighton and Hove Albion (away) - September 26, 2020

Man United's first penalty of the season was given in the second game of the season in a trip to the South Coast. After conceding a 95th minute equaliser from Brighton's Solly March, Solskjaer's men looked to have dropped two valuable points.
Astonishingly, the full time whistle had initially been blown before Man United eventually got the penalty awarded to them. Neil Maupay was judged to have handled the ball from a corner blocking out Harry Maguire's header in what looked like the last moment of the game.

The penalty was given well into stoppage time and Bruno Fernandes dispatched the effort successfully giving his side a 3-2 win and their first victory of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur (home) October 4, 2020

Man United's second spot kick of the season came against former boss Jose Mourinho and his Tottenham Hotspur side. Unlike the previous penalty against Brighton, this penalty was awarded in the opening minutes of the game after Davinson Sanchez brought down Anthony Martial in the box.

Fernandes stepped up again to give his side a very early lead. However, this penalty was to be instantly forgotten as Tottenham raced into a devastating 4-1 lead by half-time.

Two more goals by Spurs after the break sealed a whopping 6-1 win at Old Trafford on Mourinho's return to the ground, where he spent two and a half seasons at.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer succeeded Jose Mourinho in December 2018

Newcastle United (away) October 17, 2020

In what was looking like a tight affair at St James' Park against a resilient Newcastle side, Man United had the chance to go 2-1 up after Jamal Lewis fouled Marcus Rashford.

Fernandes stepped up again but much to everyone's shock, his effort was saved by Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow. This was the first penalty Fernandes had not scored since joining Man United in January 2020.
Luckily for Fernandes, he was spared his blushes as he gave his side the lead in the 86th minute before Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Rashford scored to give Man United a 4-1 win.

West Bromwich Albion (home) November 21, 2020

Bruno Fernandes stepped up again to take Man United's fourth penalty of the season and made it three in four. It was not all smooth sailing, though.
Controversy surrounded the incident as just moments earlier West Bromwich Albion had a penalty decision overturned and rescinded after Fernandes was initially penalised for fouling Conor Gallagher.
To Fernandes' relief, he was adjudged to have won the ball. Juan Mata, in a rare appearance for Man United, continued a dramatic phase of the game by winning a penalty with his cross being handled by Darnell Furlong. Fernandes' effort was saved by Sam Johnstone.
VAR would intervene and order the penalty to be retaken after the replay showed Sam Johnstone was off his line. Fernandes made it second time lucky and converted to earn victory for Man United

Leeds United (home) December 20, 2020

In a hostile game against one of their arch-rivals, Man United won a fifth penalty during their 6-2 thrashing of Leeds United.

This one was less dramatic compared to other penalties won with Ole's side already 5-1 up in the 70th minute. Referee Anthony Taylor awarded the spot kick after Martial was tripped over by Leeds defender Pascal Struijk.
Fernandes once again slotted the penalty away.
This was a game that had nearly everything: goals, mistakes, and marvelous attacking football on display. Ultimately, it was a fitting way to mark the first Premier League game between these two iconic sides of English football since 2004.

Aston Villa (home) January 1, 2021

Man United's first game of the new calendar year was to carry on the similarities of the previous one as they needed another penalty scored from Bruno Fernandes to overcome an in-form Aston Villa side 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Unlike the previous penalty against Leeds, which had little to no impact on the final result, the spot kick awarded against the Birmingham-based club was a pivotal moment in the game. Villa had just drawn level thanks to Bertrand Traore cancelling out Martial's first half goal.

Just three minutes passed before Man United got the penalty. Douglas Luiz was alleged to have brought down Paul Pogba in the box. Replays showed Pogba to have actually tripped himself up with Luiz voicing his displeasure on social media after the game.

Villa manager Dean Smith was also left scratching his head with the penalty decision as he felt referee Michael Oliver could have checked himself on the VAR monitor to see if it really was a penalty.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding the penalty, it was a high-pressure situation for Fernandes as his successful conversion turned out to be the winner.

This win was one of Man United's biggest triumphs of the season at the time as it meant they caught up with leaders Liverpool at the top on the same points total.

Southampton (home) February 2, 2021

Much like the penalty against Leeds, this penalty did next to little in impacting the final result as Man United were cruising with a 6-0 lead over Southampton before Fernandes stepped up again successfully to increase the Reds' lead.
Fernandes' 87th minute penalty was mostly overlooked in a game which saw Man United win 9-0.

Bruno Fernandes has been pivotal to Manchester United's progression in the Premier League

The penalty itself was not a crucial moment in the game but the awarding of the spot kick caused plenty of debate for when Jan Bednarek brought down Martial.

Many thought there was not sufficient enough contract to award a penalty and that the red card for Bednarek from the challenge was also very harsh.

One thing to point out at this stage is Martial had won three out of the seven penalties awarded to Man United by now.

Newcastle United (home) February 21, 2021

Just like in the reverse fixture at St James' Park, the Red Devils were awarded a penalty against Steve Bruce's side. A lot was riding on this penalty on a personal level for Fernandes, due to his only penalty miss in his Man United career coming against the Magpies and goalkeeper Darlow.
Fernandes got the chance again from the penalty spot due to Joe Willock unsuccessful challenge on Rashford. There was to be no repeat of the last game against Newcastle as Fernandes successfully converted his penalty past Darlow to put Man United 3-1 up in the 75th minute.

Manchester City (away) March 7, 2021

In arguably Man United's most impressive win of the season, a second minute penalty conversion from Fernandes was what started a sensational performance over the runaway league leaders and local rivals of the Reds, Manchester City. Luke Shaw's second half strike sealed a fantastic 2-0 win.

Yet again it was Martial who won the penalty as the Frenchman was brought to the ground after a clumsy challenge by Gabriel Jesus. Fernandes stepped up to take his ninth penalty of the season and inevitably scored it.
This took Fernandes to 16 league goals for the season and near the top of the scoring charts, one goal behind Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and level with Tottenham's Harry Kane.

Aston Villa (away) May 9, 2021

Two months after receiving their last penalty in the Premier League, Man United were awarded their tenth spot kick in the league away to Aston Villa.
The penalty came as a result of Luiz again being penalized for bringing down Pogba in the box. This time however, the penalty decision seemed correct and justified upon being awarded.
Fernandes was tasked with converting from the spot and had the chance to bring Man United level after going behind in the first half.
The Portugal international slotted home the penalty and inspired yet another comeback for Man United, who won the game 3-1.
Fernandes, 26, scored his 17th league goal in the process and 27th in all competitions.
If you are going to get plenty of penalties then it is important to at least have a confident and successful penalty taker and Man United certainly have that now with Fernandes.

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