Paul Pogba’s tackle on Ruben Neves ahead of Manchester United’s controversial winning goal against Wolves The Frenchman went into a 50/50 challenge with the Portuguese ace and missed the ball but clipped his opponent Neves hit floor after looking at referee Mike Dean, who had allowed play to go on, with the ball landing straight at the feet of Raphael Varane. He sent the ball out wide on the left to Mason Greenwood and the England international skipped past a defender before firing home. But Wolves protested the goal, which was checked by VAR, insisting the tackle on Neves warranted the strike being chalked off. Their complaints fell on deaf ears though and the strike stood to give Man United a fortunate 1-0 win. Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness, though, was firmly on Wolves’ side and couldn’t believe the goal wasn’t chalked off. He told Sky Sports: “The referee is there to referee the game, he’s two metres away. Whether Neves goes down or doesn’t go down – that is immaterial. “That is a leg breaker. Look how close the referee is, that’s a leg breaker. Neves argued his point with referee Mike Dean He added: “I was guilty of some daft things, cruel things, nasty things. That is a classic case of – if I’m there – I’m looking to do someone, I’m straight legging him, just missing the ball. “I’m not saying Paul Pogba meant to do it but that’s how it ended up looking.” Meanwhile, Neves, who was the victim of Pogba’s challenge couldn’t believe the goal wasn’t pulled back. He felt that United’s complaints about Che Adam’s goal for Southampton last weekend may have played into their thinking. “Everyone saw it. Everyone saw my leg,” he said after the defeat. “I don’t know why, to be honest with you, we always do meetings and everything about referees and VAR but I don’t know why. “They said before the season started they would look for contact. If the contact is strong enough they will give the foul. I showed them my leg… just their decision now. “I think maybe because last game it was a foul before Southampton’s goal, maybe now they did the opposite but I’m not here to talk about the ref. “Everyone saw my leg, I showed it to the ref, I showed it to the assistant ref, so I cannot say anything more.” Pogba himself was relaxed about the decision. “I didn’t touch him,” he told Sky Sports. “This is the Premier League, it was a 50/50. Every weekend that is happening. I win the ball and we scored.” And his manager Solskjaer was in a similar mood. He said: “I don’t think it’s a foul, I think two of them go for the ball and it’s a good tackle by Paul [Pogba].” “Last week I was complaining because we didn’t get a foul – it’s the way of the game now. They want it flowing, they want more lenient refereeing.” #footballindepth #Neves #pogba #WOLMUN #manutd #wolves #mikedean #VAR