Branislav Ivanovic admits referee Martin Atkinson was wrong to award Chelsea penalty against Manchester United

EPL: Martin Atkinson points penalty, Chelsea v Manchester United

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Branislav Ivanovic admits referee Martin Atkinson should not have awarded a penalty to Chelsea against Manchester United.

A challenge from Chris Smalling on Yury Zhirkov resulted in the official pointing to the spot 10 minutes from time, with Frank Lampard scoring the winner.

Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson hit out at Atkinson for the decision, and could now be sanctioned by the FA as they are reported to have requested the video of his interview with MUTV.

Ivanovic was quoted by The Sun as saying: “I find the penalty for Chelsea very dubious.

“It was too easily adjudged. I have to admit that after seeing it again. I thought it was a penalty when Zhirkov fell but, afterwards, I saw it never was.

“But we were in a similar situation a couple of times this season and no one said anything.”