Referee chaos as Albion rage at late penalty call
AS THE final whistle went, boos rang round The Hawthorns and West Brom’s Kyle Bartley and Chris Brunt confronted referee Matt Donohue.
They wanted answers. How did he manage to send off Grady Diangana before realising it was Nathan Ferguson who had lunged in on Chris Solly?
More importantly, Bartley and Brunt wanted to know how Charlton had been awarded a penalty in stoppage time after it appeared as though Naby Sarr and Semi Ajayi had i nnocently come together inside the West Brom area.
Josh Cullen dispatched the spotkick and gave the Charlton fans behind the goal reason to celebrate. Until then it had seemed as though West Brom would go four points clear of Leeds at the top after their earlier draw at Wednesday.
Hal Robson-Kanu had put them back in front, although you would have to question how his handball in the build- up went unnoticed, after Macauley Bonne’s equaliser following Matt Phillips’ opener.
Manager Slaven Bilic described it as a ‘horror movie’ adding: ‘It’s hard for the referees. The problem is when they tell you you can’t talk about the ref but it was the decision that took away the win.’
But what can you say about Charlton? This was yet another example of how robust they can be and further proof that they are prepared to work until the last kick.
When Jake Livermore was cautioned for a late challenge on Conor Gallagher as the winger skipped past him, West Brom knew they had to liven up and Bilic screamed at his players. Sure enough they responded to his cries and when Mateus Pereira sent the ball across Charlton’s six-yard area, Phillips got ahead of Sarr to thump in.
West Brom would have doubled their lead had Dillon Phillips not been so effective in the Charlton goal. It was while under threat that Charlton produced their first equaliser of the game. Cullen’s shot deflected and unmarked Bonne headed past Sam Johnstone.
Then the first of two moments referee Donohue will want to forget. Ferguson wiped out Solly with a two-footed challenge. It was easily a sending off and Donohue agreed but rather than sending off Ferguson he showed the card to Diangana. After a chat with his colleagues, Donohue sent off Ferguson instead.
‘ I was hoping he was going to stick by it [sending Diangana off] because he’s a threat,’ said boss Lee Bowyer. ‘ I was thinking “yes, it wasn’t him and he’s going off”. Unfortunately, for us he got it right in the end!’
Down to 10 men, West Brom would need to work harder than ever. Charlton, meanwhile, needed to stay as composed in defence as they largely had throughout.
Captain Jason Pearce demonstrated he was capable when he made a crucial tackle to stop substitute Conor Townsend from weaving his way to goal.
But even with 10 men West Brom are potent in attack. Robson-Kanu, who appeared to bring the ball under control with his arm after high pass to him, curled into the left corner and sparked scenes of jubilation.
But the final twist was yet to come and when Sarr went down, Donohue believing he was shoved by Ajayi, Cullen stepped up and rifled past Johnstone.