Furious Carroll slams referee after late Leicester penalty
WEST HAM striker Andy Carroll lambasted referee Jon Moss last night for awarding Leicester City the stoppage-time penalty that allowed them to escape with a 2-2 draw and nudge eight points clear of Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Much of the focus during a thrilling, spiky contest was on the officials with several penalty appeals snubbed before Jamie Vardy, who opened the scoring in the 18th minute, received a second booking for a dive in the 56th minute.
Moss chose to punish Wes Morgan’s pressure on Winston Reid, allowing sub Carroll to strike home a spot-kick followed up shortly after by a superb Aaron Cresswell goal.
But, the match would end 2-2 thanks to a last-gasp Leonardo Ulloa penalty given after Jeffrey Schlupp went down under pressure from Carroll.
“I think it was a poor decision,” said Carroll. “I think he’s trying to even it up. It is the same week in, week out, the same decisions, bad decisions, costing us games.
“It is eight points now that we’ve dropped. It is not acceptable, to be honest. It is bad decisions he has given all game. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last.”
Leicester captain Morgan was not allowed to speak after the match, but Carroll went onto insist that something must be done to improve refereeing performances.
“Whether they’ve got the camera, whatever you need, something needs to happen,” he said. “We could have been third in the league now if we had eight points. We are still fighting for fourth, fifth spot and we’re slipping down.
“There is nothing we can do about it when others are making the decisions.”
Vardy was dismissed in the second half after Moss ruled he dived following Angelo Ogbonna’s tackle, with Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri protesting his innocence.
“He (Vardy) never dives,” said Ranieri. “He’s very fast and, at this speed, if you touch even a little then (you may go down).”
Vardy could face additional action from the FA for his reaction to being sent-off. He pointed at Moss and let rip with a tirade, which may go into the referee’s report.
The FA gave Diego Costa an extra one-match ban, £20,000 fine and warning as to his future conduct for the way he reacted to his second booking in Chelsea’s FA Cup quarterfinal at Everton.