REFEREE IN BLUNDERLAND
Curtis blasts rookie Scott after Defoe hat-trick lights up a night of errors
THE little green man scored a hat- trick and took the ball but the numbers favoured the chap in black. Two offside goals, one dodgy penalty and a harsh red card — not even Jermain Defoe could keep up with the referee.
This was one of those devilish relegation fixtures on a wet pitch that needed a strong referee but got Graham Scott, who followed each mistake with another. Four big calls, four big mistakes from an official taking charge of only his fourth Premier League fixture.
It was, regrettably, a shambles that affected two sides who have needed no extra help in blowing games this season. Alan Curtis said Scott looked ‘out of his depth’; Allardyce, speaking from the positon of victory, said the official ‘made some errors for both sides’.
In all, it enabled him to draw almost all the attention away from Defoe, that brilliant little striker who at 33 is still as committed as ever to hunting for goals.
The Englishman fired Sunderland ahead from an offside position, before Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled with a particularly generous penalty. Kyle Naughton was then sent off without making contact on his opponent and Andre Ayew put Swansea in front. It was gloriously bizarre.
Patrick van Aanholt levelled via a hefty deflection early in the second half and then Defoe scored again from an offside position before completing his hat-trick at the close. He left with the ball, and a tally of nine league goals for the season so far but really this was a game dominated by the mistakes of the official.
Curtis, normally so mild mannered, could not help himself in apportioning blame. He said: ‘I think the big talking point is the referee’s decisions. We benefited from the penalty but you look at the other decisions. I don’t want to criticise referees but I think he got the big ones wrong tonight.
‘He made a huge decision to send a player off and we were forced to play the next hour with 10. I thought he won the ball and you only have to look at the video and he has won it cleanly. It is something we will try to appeal first thing in the morning.
‘The first goal looks as if it is probably offside, the second is a deflection, the third is another offside. And you get the red as well. Sometimes things don’t go for you.
‘Unfortunately he did look out of his depth. It is difficult but we are talking about the Premier League. The appointment of referees is crucial with two teams at the bottom end of the table.’
Not that Sunderland will care. They have won two in a row and are now within a point of 17th-placed Swansea, who have put so much faith in Curtis transforming a dire season.
What Allardyce has, and what Swansea would surely pay a king’s ransom to obtain, is an effective striker. Defoe is everything Swansea lack — a clinical, ruthless edge. With five goals in his past two league games, he is the main cause for any optimism at the club.
Allardyce said: ‘The fact that we’ve got the little man up front at the moment, and who is in tremendous goalscoring form, means we ended up winning the game.
‘He scored a hat-trick, scored two in the last game and converted most of the chances that we created for him. He’s a massive player for us at the moment.’
In terms of Swansea’s search for a striker, Curtis admitted they need one ‘sooner rather than later’.
But it was also plainly obvious that the side is hugely undermined bby a defencedf prone tto tterribleibl errors. The opening goal was simply a calamity wrapped in moments of basic incompetence, with the mistakes shared between Swansea’s goalkeeper, his defence and the team of officials.
It started with Lukasz Fabianski duffing a goal kick straight to Adam Johnson, who was positioned on the right and headed infield.
His pass found Fabio Borini and the Italian, once on loan at Swansea, was given enough space by Federico Fernandez to launch a shot. Defoe was offside as the shot came in and far enough away from Ashley Williams to have an easy tap-in from three yards once Fabianski had diverted the ball back into his path. An
error by Scott, but scapegoating will only get a team so far — Swansea’s defence has been prone to sloppy lapses throughout the campaign.
Despite the farce, Sigurdsson levelled with a penalty after Ayew tripped himself — Wes Brown appeared to make no contact with the attacker — before Naughton was sent off for a challenge on Yann M’Vila. He brought his studs down, which is never a good look, but appeared to make no contact with the player.
Ayew then put Swansea ahead with a good finish and Van Aanholt levelled after the break with a shot going in via Fernandez’s back.
Harsh on Swansea but what followed was galling with Defoe scoring a second offside goal before a legitimate hat-trick strike at the close.
Defoe left the Liberty Stadium with the ball; sadly the referee left with all the attention.