Ole Gunnar Solskjaer laments VAR and penalty that never was after Arsenal draw

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was left fuming after VAR controversy denied Manchester United victory over Arsenal .

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 59 minute equaliser cancelled out Scott McTominay’s 20-yard first-half strike and earned the Gunners a point at Old Trafford.

But United boss Solskjaer claimed his defenders stopped playing when referee’s assistant Scott Ledger raised his flag to rule Aubameyang offside – before VAR correctly allowed the goal to stand.

Asked if the raising of the flag caused his players to hesitate, allowing Aubameyang to score, Solskjaer said: “Ashley Young certainly holds his hand up, he looks straight at the linesman, maybe hesitates and could’ve got a block in.

“That would probably would have helped David De Gea, but that’s no consolation as it’s a perfectly good goal for them, although he probably should have kept the flag down.

“It made an impact on the situation by raising the flag. When it’s that way you can wait and take it back later.

“When it’s handball, make a decision and take it back, but that’s up to the ref.”

Solskjaer claimed United should have been awarded a penalty moments into the second-half, when the ball hit Arsenal defender Saed Kolasinac on the arm.

“There was a handball that we could and should have had,” said Solskjaer.

“Like loads of the penalty decisions, if you don’t make it you can’t go back and have it. It’s a work in progress [VAR] but it was the right decision.”

The draw means United, who have taken just nine points from seven games, have endured their worst start to a season for 30 years, since the 1989-90 campaign.

United limped up to 10 place in the Premier League, while Arsenal moved into fourth spot, with Solskjaer bemoaning his side’s failure to score a second to kill the game.

The Reds have now scored more than one goal in just three of their last 21 matches, with Solskjaer admitting they need to be more clinical.

“We go 1-0 up and then we don’t get the second goal,” said Solskjaer. “That’s the learning curve – be more clinical. There are so many games where we’ve been 1-0 up, but we’ll learn.

“It’s a bad goal to give away, but sometimes you make those passes, you play out and it looks good. We will learn from it.

“You think at the time maybe Harry Maguire managed to get out but it was a few yards onside and a good finish.”