Carvalhal seethes at handball ref justice
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY again left the iPro Stadium empty-handed – and boss Carlos Carvalhal was left furious with ref James Linington.
The visitors were the better side for long periods in front of a crowd of 30,000 but failed to take their chances and were beaten by a Cyrus Christie header and Alex Pearce’s first goal for Derby, who moved away from the bottom three.
Carvalhal described the decision that turned the game as the “worst in the Championship” as his team were beaten 2-0 at Derby.
The Owls boss was incensed that referee Linington did not award a penalty for a clear handball by Richard Keogh.
It was certainly hard to understand why Linington did not point to the spot in the seventh minute when Adam Reach’s goalbound shot was handled on the line.
Carvalhal and the rest of the Wednesday bench were furious and their sense of injustice deepened after Derby went ahead in the 17th minute when Christie bundled the ball in after Darren Bent had failed to connect with a corner.
Bent should have added a second two minutes before the break when his header flashed just over but the visitors continued to hammer on Derby’s door in the second half.
Against the run of play, Derby scored again seven minutes later.
A Jacob Butterfield shot was deflected into the path of Pearce who beat Cameron Dawson from eight yards for his first Derby goal but Carvalhal knew it could have been so different.
“In my opinion, it’s the worst decision in the Championship so far,” he said. “I have seen nothing like it this season.
“It’s so clear, I don’t understand it. I have nothing against the ref, nothing against the person but the decision was very, very poor.”
Derby manager Steve McClaren agreed a penalty should have been given.
“Keogh made a great save without his gloves on and we rode our luck with that,” he said.