Evra: Time to forget penalty nightmare

Patrice Evra believes Manchester United must look beyond their obvious frustration at an inexplicable penalty decision at Old Trafford.

Rio Ferdinand admitted on Twitter after the 1–1 draw with Newcastle he felt unable to express his true feelings about referee’s assistant John Flynn — who lived in Royton until he was 19 and has family in Oldham — for fear of ending up with a hefty fine.

Ferdinand did appear to mouth "joke" in the immediate aftermath of referee Mike Jones' refusal to overrule his assistant, whom he consulted with despite having originally indicated the defender's challenge on Hatem Ben Arfa was worthy of nothing more than a corner.

Sir Alex Ferguson went further, questioning whether Flynn should ever be appointed to another Premier League game and raising the issue of a disparity between full–time referees and part–time assistants.

This may warrant further action by the Football Association, especially as United's in–house station, MUTV, appeared to cut a portion of Ferguson's post–match interview with them out of their broadcast.

Evra was one of those who made his feelings plain to Jones as Demba Ba celebrated cancelling out Javier Hernandez’s opener.

However, after a game in which United spurned glorious chances, the France full–back feels his team–mates would be well served to adopt a more reflective stance.

"The referee took the responsibility. He went to see the linesman. He said, are you sure?" said Evra.

"He said he was sure it was a penalty so the referee trusted his man. What can you say about that?

But Ferguson said: “Everyone was astounded by the decision. Whether he (Flynn) ever gets a game again is not for me to decide. But it was an absolutely shocking decision. It costs you.”