Muscat cries foul on opener
THERE was exasperation and a whiff of conspiracy in the air as Melbourne Victory Kevin Muscat tried to understand his side’s loss to Melbourne City in their FFA Cup semi-final on Tuesday night.
For the second time in 10 days, City had the better of its cross-town rivals.
But for the first time in their October tangles, it was a contested result, and one Muscat could not accept.
Luke Brattan’s opening goal was the source of his ire. The howitzer flew in past Lawrence Thomas but only after Tim Cahill — standing in an off-side position — ducked out of the way.
The linesman’s flag went up but referee Shaun Evans eventually decided to award the goal, setting off Muscat.
“Timmy has to get out of the way otherwise it’s going to hit him . . . if you have to get out of the way of the ball travelling towards the goal I’d suggest you’re obstructing the keeper,” he said.
“I can’t see how there’s any other explanation.”
Deepening Muscat’s disgust, Marco Rojas’s second half goal was chalked off for what Muscat said was the same issue — Besart Berisha appearing to stray marginally offside before the Kiwi headed home.
“There’s a contradiction here. They’re exactly the same because (City keeper) Dean Bouzanis can’t move until he realises ‘ Bes’ is not going to touch the ball,” he said.
Evans told Fox Sports Cahill “didn’t interfere with the keeper’s movement” so there was no reason to overrule.
As he raged on, Muscat also said City’s players were guilty of “lots of rolling around and lots of diving” and slowing the restart of play.
He said referees were using “two sets of rules” and exclaimed that “at least the FFA gets the result they want” as he exited the room.
For his part, City coach John van ’t Schip offered no view on Brattan’s goal, because he did not have one.
“It’s maybe an answer that you hear all the time from coaches, but I really didn’t see it,” van ’t Schip said.
Adding to the controversy was the decision to award hosting rights to Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
Home sides have won both Cup finals, and City will take that advantage when it hosts Sydney FC on November 30.
FFA cited a desire to “maximise attendance and broadcast numbers” in making the venue choice, despite the Sky Blues boasting consistently better home crowds than City.
AAMI Park hosted last year’s final, which attracted 15,098 people.
FFA has responded to that by slashing the cost of entry for the 2016 decider, with the cheapest ticket dropping from $40 last year to $22.50.