Furious Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Gary O’Neil said bad refereeing decisions were hurting his reputation and “people’s livelihoods” after his team were on the wrong end of more video assistant referee (VAR) controversy in their 3-2 Premier League defeat at Fulham on Monday.
Willian scored two penalties — including a stoppage-time winner — while Alex Iwobi’s early strike for Fulham was canceled out by Matheus Cunha and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan also netted from the spot.
However, VAR was once again the talking point after an engrossing match at Craven Cottage.
Photo: AFP
Fulham started the match brightly and took a deserved lead in the seventh minute with a nicely worked goal down the left, finished by Iwobi.
The visitors were level midway through the first half when Cunha headed home after sparkling wing play on the right by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
Referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the penalty spot 10 minutes into the second half, ruling that Nelson Semedo had fouled Tom Cairney in the box, even though the defender appeared to have got a touch on the ball.
Following a lengthy VAR check Willian stepped forward and rolled the ball to the goalkeeper’s left, adding to the pain for O’Neil, whose team have been on the wrong end of a spate of controversial penalty decisions this season.
Wolves were awarded a spot-kick of their own when Tim Ream made a clumsy challenge on Hwang and the South Korean lashed home down the middle to pull his side level in the 75th minute.
There was still time for a third penalty of the half.
Salisbury had initially waved away penalty claims when Joao Gomes and Harry Wilson came together in the dying minutes, but reversed his decision after VAR officials advised him to look at the pitch-side monitor.
Willian made no mistake to seal the win for Fulham in the 94th minute.
An emotional O’Neil said Salisbury admitted he should have been advised to check the pitch-side monitor for the first spot-kick, adding a spate of big decisions had gone against his side.
“Nelson [Semedo] plays the ball and doesn’t touch Tom Cairney,” he told Sky Sports. “The referee says he felt that was wrong and he should have been sent to the monitor.”
“That doesn’t help me. So that one has been pretty much admitted that it was a mistake. The Harry Wilson one we disagree. I feel it was soft. For all four decisions to go against us is tough to take and we didn’t deserve that,” he said.
He said that “bad refereeing decisions” were having a huge impact on teams and managers.
“This is a big club,” he said. “The impact that you are having on my reputation, and the club and people’s livelihoods is massive. We should be able to talk about the game and not decisions, but unfortunately we can’t.”
“I have always been for VAR, but I think it is causing problems at the moment. I think VAR has cost us there.... The fact that we have conceded two, for me VAR is not helping with subjective decisions. Maybe tonight has finally turned me against VAR,” he added.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
RSS