A man called Ledger gets his sums wrong to leave Wagner lamenting a victory lost
DAVID WAGNER is the latest German to experience issues at a Premier League stadium this week.
The Huddersfield boss was celebrating when Elias Kachunga’s close-range effort appeared to have put his vibrant side on the verge of a third Premier League win.
Assistant referee Scott Ledger had other ideas. He raised his flag to make an incorrect decision and prompt howls from the stands.
Wagner was more measured than the punters but equally upset. ‘It hurts,’ he said. ‘Absolutely it hurts. This is a huge disappointment for us — we scored a second goal. It was obvious he was onside by nearly a yard.’
Mr Ledger took centre stage after Jamie Vardy’s penalty — his 15th goal in 18 Premier League appearances — cancelled out the excellent Laurent Depoitre’s stunning opener.
When they watched the replays last night, Video Assistant Referee technology instantly found 22,000 proponents in West Yorkshire.
Wagner, who somehow retained his sense of humour, stopped short of calling for its introduction.
‘Then we would have nothing to talk about,’ he joked. ‘I’m a traditionalist. I don’t like to see many changes. We have to accept this.’
Foxes manager Craig Shakespeare, whose side under-performed, admitted they got away with one.
‘We’ve had those go against us,’ he said. ‘I think this one went for us. That’s the way it is.’
Regardless, Huddersfield remain in a happy place, basking in the glow of Premier League sunshine.
Before kick-off, the pubs of the nearby town centre were packed while both team coaches arrived to huge, applauding crowds.
The party is nowhere near ending at a ground sponsored by a brewery. At one point the old, slightly
annoying chant of ‘Stand up if you love [insert club name]’ went up and the whole of the home support in the John Smith’s Stadium rose as one.
The hosts’ task, however, was not helped by the absence of top scorer Steve Mounie, out with a heel injury.
His replacement, Depoitre, a burly unit who cost £3.5million from Porto, was superb, however.
The Belgian did something few others will manage this season when he rolled Harry Maguire before firing the opener seconds after the break. It came too soon for Town owner Dean Hoyle, who was back in his seat to see Vardy level from the spot four minutes later.
There had appeared little danger when Leicester midfielder Andy King took the ball away from Chris Lowe.
But the Huddersfield left-back could not resist sticking out a leg, sending him to the floor just inside the area.
Vardy stepped up and fired right down the middle.
If that was harsh, it was nothing on Mr Ledger’s intervention as the Terriers thought they had secured another precious victory.
Leicester, who now face Liverpool twice in a week, will need to improve.
But that is something Shakespeare expects from Kelechi Iheanacho.
The £25m summer signing made his full debut but looked off the pace. ‘He’ll get better,’ Shakespeare said.
Decision aside, Wagner was happy with what he saw.
‘This was a chance to get a perfect result and instead we have an average result,’ he said. ‘We’ve played five games now in the Premier League. Four times we performed, four times we collected points, one time we did not perform and we did not.’
Did Wagner see the replay in the dugout?
‘No,’ he said. ‘If I’d have known it during the game I have no idea how I would have reacted.’