Magpies coach unimpressed with officiating at St James’.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew was left to reflect on two wrongly disallowed Papiss Cisse goals as his side were held to a goalless draw by Metalist Kharkiv in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-32 tie at St James’ Park on Thursday night.
Check in to Metalist vs Newcastle United
Both of Cisse’s strikes were ruled out for offside, only for subsequent TV replays to show that the referee’s assistant had in actual fact got each decision wrong, much to the Magpies manager’s obvious frustration.
“Both goals are onside. Fundamentally they (the officials) have got them wrong, in a tight game like that,” Pardew said in his post-match press conference.
“In these games they are the margins. I can understand if they get it wrong once but twice is hard to take.
“The law says it should favour the striker. Both decisions were level – I wouldn’t even say that they needed to favour the striker. It’s hard to take.
“The observer has told me that the protocol is not to speak to the referee after the game.
“Perhaps they should review that. But let me tell you I’m not here to get in to trouble.
“He [Cisse] hasn’t seen the replays yet and I think that will just hinder his sleep somewhat.
“But he looks sharp and he keeps getting in there. The last three or four games, he has had more chances than he has had all season.
“With all strikers, they feel a lot better when they score. When he looks back and sees those two goals, he will be disappointed.
“But it will just put fire in his belly, hopefully, for the return leg or the game against Southampton, wherever he plays.”
COMMENTS