Fergie blasts linesman

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted with fury and incredulity after a controversial penalty decision cost his Manchester United side victory over Newcastle United.

Sir Alex Ferguson reacted with fury and incredulity after a controversial penalty decision cost his Manchester United side victory over Newcastle United.

Published Nov 27, 2011

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Sir Alex Ferguson reacted with fury and incredulity yesterday after a controversial penalty decision cost his Manchester United side victory over Newcastle United – and handed a huge Premier League title advantage to neighbours Manchester City.

United’s boss blasted referee Mike Jones – no stranger to controversy – after he first awarded a corner following Rio Ferdinand’s challenge on Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, then appeared to be talked into giving a penalty by assistant John Flynn.

The 64th-minute penalty, coolly converted by Demba Ba amid the bedlam of Old Trafford, earned Newcastle a 1-1 draw after Javier Hernandez had opened the scoring and cost United the chance to put pressure on City as they prepare to face Liverpool at Anfield this afternoon.

An irate Fergusonsaid: “It was a terrible decision, one of the worst I have ever seen. The referees are supposed to be full-time but the linesmen are not [Flynn is a Flight Sergeant in the RAF]. Whether the assistant referee ever gets a game again is not up to him but it was an absolutely shocking decision. It costs you, that.

“We had it a few weeks ago when the linesman gave a penalty that was never a penalty and the referee overruled him. Why couldn’t the referee do that today? He was so near to it. He was eight yards away. It was a travesty, the referee was closer than the linesman. I think it was everyone’s view that it was not a penalty, including the referee.

“He says he thought Ferdinand had touched the ball and gave a corner kick and he’s let the linesman overrule him. He put the referee in a terrible position and he was clear about it, the linesman. He’s obviously not watched the game.”

The flashpoint for United’s anger came when Ferdinand’s sliding tackle took the ball cleanly from Ben Arfa before the Frenchman tumbled over the central defender’s outstretched leg. United players surrounded Flynn to protest after the assistant’s insistence that the challenge was unfair. But referee Jones intervened and waved away their objections.

Jones was the official at the centre of the infamous ‘beachball’ goal two years ago when he incorrectly awarded Darren Bent a goal for Sunderland after his shot had been deflected past Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina by a beachball thrown on to the pitch by fans.

Yesterday, the officials’ decision was slammed by Radio 5 Live pundit Mark Lawrenson, who said: “You have to be 100 percent certain to give a penalty, and if that linesman was 100 per cent certain then he needs to get down to Specsavers.”

Ferguson’s anger was not helped by the bitter memory of how a referee’s controversial decision two seasons ago cost United dearly in their title race with Chelsea.

On that occasion, referee Mike Dean allowed Chelsea’s second goal in their 2-1 victory at Old Trafford to stand despite scorer Didier Drogba clearly being offside. Dean and his assistant Simon Beck, who failed to spot it, were demoted to the Championship after their mistakes.

Last night, Ferguson said: “Two years ago a linesman gave an offside goal to Chelsea and it cost us the league. Hopefully, we are not saying that at the end of May.”

When Ferguson was interviewed for United’s own television channel, MUTV, his comments appeared to be edited to prevent him getting into trouble over their outspoken nature.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew agreed that the decision was debatable. “In real time I thought it was a penalty,” he said. “You could tell by the players’ reaction that it was tight.

“Looking at it again, the ball has changed direction but whether Rio took a little bit of Hatem before he played the ball is debatable. It’s one of those where I’m sure United and, particularly, Alex will be really disappointed but for us it was a break and I feel we deserved that. Sometimes you have to force the pressure and we did. We got a break.”

Pardew’s side played the last 15 minutes of the game with 10 men after Jonas Gutierrez was sent off, prompting the manager to describe his players as ‘Geordie heroes’.

“Forget about the result, it was just a great performance,” he said. “When United don’t win, the headlines are about their disappointment. But my players, for me, were Geordie heroes today. It was a brilliant game and it will live long in the memory.”

Ferdinand said later on Twitter: “I don’t want to go into the penalty decision or I’ll get fined! Saying that, over a season decisions even themselves out, I suppose.”

The Newcastle boss believes the result will provide the perfect set-up for next weekend’s visit of Chelsea to Tyneside but also hinted strongly that City, 3-1 winners against his team last week, might be better bets for the title.

“Chelsea next week will tell us a little bit more because last week we played Man City when they were at the top of their game and they beat us with a bit to spare.

“Today, not so. It was even for long periods. Next week we’ll be at home and 52,000 Geordies will give us a great advantage.”

But Ferguson had the last word on Newcastle’s performance.

“I’ve just seen Alan Pardew’s interview when he said Newcastle were the best team in the first half – I just wonder what game he’s been at.

“Chicharito has had four clear chances. We played some great football. The second half was just an onslaught and not getting the three points was just a travesty.

“Their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves, there were shots blocked, others hit the post and were cleared off the line and there were one or two bad misses. It was just an incredible result. – Daily Mail

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