ANGRY CARLOS LOO-SES IT IN RED CARD RAGE
CARLOS Carvalhal was again left furious as key refereeing decisions went against Sheffield Wednesday, with even Derby boss Gary Rowett agreeing the ten-man Owls were denied a clear penalty in their defeat at Pride Park.
Matej Vydra converted an early spot-kick for the hosts after Glenn Loovens was sent off for bringing him down, and substitute Bradley Johnson put the result beyond doubt minutes from time.
But Wednesday boss Carvalhal was fuming after referee Scott Duncan refused to award a penalty for a foul on Steven Fletcher by George Forsyth shortly before half-time, despite having dismissed Loovens for a similar infringement in the early stages.
“This is the fourth game in a row where we’ve had critical decisions against us, and this has cost us a lot of points,” Carvalhal said. “When we have a similar situation [to the penalty awarded to Derby] and it isn’t given, it has a massive impact on the game, because in that moment we could have made it 1-1, and Derby would have been down to ten players.”
Owls skipper Loovens had come back into the side after a two-month injury lay-off, but his foul on Vydra after a fine throughball from David Nugent ensured his return was shortlived.
Vydra picked himself up to take the spotkick, stroking the ball to the left of Keiren Westwood as the Owls keeper dived the wrong way.
The visitors needed a lastditch goalline clearance from Kieran Lee in the 13th minute after a Derby counter-attack. The home fans were already cheering as Tom Lawrence’s finish bobbled toward goal, only for it to hit the inside of the post and bobble along the line, allowing Lee to launch the ball away to safety.
Westwood ran the risk of another red card when he had to leave his box to deny Richard Keogh shortly after, but the referee judged the keeper to have stopped the shot with his body.
Scott Carson was relieved when Fletcher’s powerful downward header went just wide shortly before the half-hour.
And Carvalhal was bemused four minutes before the break, when Fletcher’s appeals for a penalty were waved away. “I don’t know if I’m more upset about the referee not giving the penalty, or about what he said to Steven Fletcher,” he said. “The referee told him, ‘I saw that he pushed you, but I didn’t give it because you must stay up’.”
Westwood produced two good stops after the break, from Johnny Russell on the hour, and substitute Chris Martin with 18 minutes left.
But the visitors’ spirited tenman display came to nought, as Johnson slotted home on the turn from close range.
Derby boss Gary Rowett revealed the foul which led to Vydra’s penalty was the result of a tactical ploy. “We felt we might be able to get in behind Loovens because he hadn’t played much,” he added.
Rowett also acknowledged his side were lucky not to concede a penalty. “I’m not sure why Fletcher would go down in that position if it wasn’t,” he added.
And moving to within two points of the play-offs, Rowett was in no mood to mince his words.
“I gave the players a piece of my mind at half-time, because I didn’t think it was anywhere near good enough,” he said. “I wasn’t happy after either.”