HUDDERSFIELD Take-away nightmare
0 WAGNER: REFS ARE RELEGATING US
DEJECTED David Wagner lashed out at referee Lee Mason and the FA after Huddersfield’s ‘must-win’ survival script turned into a horror movie.
By Wagner’s own pre- match assessment, his Terriers’ slim chance of staying up in the Premier League depended on them beating fellow strugglers Cardiff here.
Their best chance of doing that floated down the River Taff when referee Mason awarded them a penalty with 14 minutes to go – then overturned his own decision.
Cardiff ’s Joe Bennett tangled with Florent Hadergjonaj and Mason pointed to the spot – only to change his mind after a chat with his assistant Stuart Burt.
Instead of a penalty, Mason gave a free-kick to Cardiff and Wagner found it hard to conceal his bitterness. “Everybody knows the referee gave a big decision that cost us the game,” said Wagner, whose team remain bottom and are eight points from safety.
“After seeing the footage, it’s a clear penalty. It was the most clear-cut chance of the whole game and they took it away from us.
“The spirit and attitude was there. Clearly, we were the more active team and we deserved something.
“But I don’t know how many decisions like this have gone against us this season. We will probably get another phone call from the FA apologising for the decision.”
Guess what, Cardiff boss Neil Warnock saw the same incident differently, claiming the only real penalty was the one waved away by Mason when Junior Hoillett was sent tumbling by Hadergjonaj in the first half.
In truth, that one did look just as justifiable as the one Mason gave with one hand and then took away with the other.
Warnock (below) insisted: “Junior Hoilett’s penalty shout was 10 times worse. How that can be two people with a genuine coming together over the ball, I don’t know.
“With the Bennett one, it was a good job we had an experienced linesman as s there was not enough contact for a penalty.”
The truth is this match was not top- f light standard.
Two teams who needed d some fireworks to help them avoid relegation manufactured a stink bomb of a game.
Huddersfield’s predicament was the more urgent and the Terriers duly scurried around and dominated possession.
But their lack of cutting edge means they have now gone nine Premier League games without a win. They did prevent that sequence becoming nine straight defeats, but mostly because Cardiff were so eye-poppingly listless.
At a bare minimum, Warnock’s teams usually carry an up-and-at’ em menace, but they were so lifeless h here that it was a wonder para paramedics didn’t rush on. Warnock blamed his s squad’s injury toll and the fact he has been unable to bring in any fresh blood so far in this transfer t window. He added: “It would have been easy to have lost that game in the last few minutes. “But that’s our sixth clean sheet, which is a good statistic. If you can’t win, then you have to get the point.
“Huddersfield said they had to win before the game, so they were freer than normal. There was no pressure on them.”