Officials made a ‘serious error’in disallowing goal, says Levein

“GETTING THE second goal for us was always going to be crucial for us because a one-goal lead can prove to be fragile and so it was tonight,”said Levein.

“The fact is we didn’t get it. I believe the officials made a serious error with the chalked off goal that Steven Fletcher scored.

“It was very hard to take. I feel we have had an injustice this evening.

“The game is finished now and whether the officials have made one, two or three mistakes that’s not going to help us.

“I did feel we were in control and would run out winners of the match but we were just hit by the sucker punch.

“The only thing we can do is go to Belgium and try to win the game on Tuesday.

“The important thing is we react in the right manner.”

That means crossing the North Sea and beating the Belgians in their own backyard an unlikely outcome if we are being honest.

“This makes it more diff icult because I think we need to win in Belgium now,” added the manager.

“The players are quiet and not much is being said in the dressing room.

“This is a disappointment and we have all been in football long enough to know that things don’t always go your way. We have had some hammer blows and this is the latest one.”

So where does this leave Levein now?

“I don’t want to talk about what if this happens, or what if that happens,” he said.

“The important thing now is that I do the job to the best of my ability and that means getting the players up for Tuesday.

You can understand my frustration and I am angry but there is no point in venting my frustration here.”

It was Chris Coleman’s first win asWales manager since succeeding Gary Speed and he admitted it was a relief.

The former Fulham boss said: “Overall, the performance over 90 minutes if we had come away with nothing it would have been a travesty. Scotland scored against the run of play.

“Two great times to score, two great goals and a great player.”

Of Bale he said: “When you’ve got that threat in the team then you always have a chance.

“We showed great belief, great character and great strength and got what we deserved.”

He had some sympathy for Levein after officials disallowed the Steven Fletcher goal which would have made it 2-0.

However, he added: “Over the course of 90 minutes there is always going to be a bit of controversy.”