Edwin van der Sar frustrated after Manchester United’s rejected penalty claim against Arsenal

Champions League: Chelsea – Manchester United, Edwin van der Sar

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Edwin van der Sar has bemoaned Manchester United‘s rejected penalty claim in his side’s defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side failed to extend their advantage over second-placed Chelsea as Aaron Ramsey’s second-half strike handed Arsene Wenger’s charges victory at the Emirates.

But Van der Sar insists United should have been awarded a penalty in the closing stages after Gael Clichy appeared to make contact on Michael Owen in the box.

“Maybe the referee can’t see it but the linesmen can get involved with games these days so I’m not sure why he didn’t stick up the flag,” Van der Sar told reporters.

“In the second half, we made some changes and, 20 seconds after that change, they scored a goal so we had to change our approach a bit more and created some chances to try and score an equaliser but it never really happened.

Van der Sar, who is set to retire at the end of the season admits United were slow to start against Wenger’s side but is adamant the defeat will not hinder their title chances.

“It’s a tough place to come to but we should’ve started it brighter and put them on the back foot,” he added.

“They’re a quality team who also know how to play football – we wanted to get them on the counter-attack but it didn’t really happen.

“Unfortunately, I had no saves at all today. It was a shame but, hopefully, it’s not going to cost us too many things.”