Pulis rails at referee for red card decision

Tony Pulis hit out at the decision to dismiss Mo Besic after his Middlesbrough side were held to a 1-1 draw by Blackburn Rovers.

Boro, who are now six points off the automatic promotion places, dominated the opening exchanges as they looked to bounce back from defeat to Aston Villa last weekend.

But the game was turned on its head when Besic was dismissed after just 21 minutes - in a decision which left Pulis less than pleased.

While the Boro boss agree with the decision, he was left perplexed by the fact officials positioned on the halfway line made the callratherthanthereferee.

“I thought we were the better team up until the sending off,” Pulis said. “The referee doesn’t send him off, it’s the fourth official and the linesman on our side.

“I’ll say it now, Besic does pull his shirt. But I believe our goalkeeper is getting to the ball first, before their lad, and it’s a yellow card not a sending off.

“How they make that decision from that distance, and a decision which ultimately changed the game, is beyond me.”

Boro’s misery was then compounded further when Charlie Mulgrew curled home a free-kick to hand Rovers the lead.

Unsurprisingly, Blackburn dominated after Besic’s dismissal, and the visitors twice went close to extending their lead before the break.

Danny Graham must have thought he had scored as he met Harrison Reed’s 37th-minute cross with a crisp first-time shot, but Daniel Ayala produced a superb sliding challenge to block.

Five minutes later Graham was free again, only for Darren Randolph to save his fiercely-hit shot. The ball rebounded towards Corry Evans, but the midfielder stabed wide.

Tony Pulis tried to change things at half-time, bringing on Britt Assombalonga and George Saville, but Blackburn continued to dominate.

But Boro rallied, and were level after the break when Assombalonga curled home a fine effort from distance to seal a point.