Leeds United have been on the wrong end of refereeing decisions over the last month. And Daniel Farke has made his frustration known at every point.
Most recently, it seems like the club has been on the end of unsportsmanlike tactics from visiting opponents. From Sunderland, to Brentford last weekend, teams seem to be at liberty to stop the game when they want. On Saturday, Caomhin Kelleher went down with an injury just when his team were under pressure, allowing Keith Andrews to have a tactical break on the sideline with his players.
The Whites have been on the end of bizarre decisions from the referees too. They were denied a penalty against Sunderland, Daniel Farke was sent off after making his concerns known against Manchester City. The most recent one was Gabriel Gudmundsson being sent off after a second yellow card.
Premier League issues statement on Leeds United incident
The Premier League Key Match Incidents panel voted that the Whites should have been awarded a penalty against Sunderland, citing a refereeing mistake. Pascal Struijk was being fouled in the box by a Sunderland defender, which was not reviewed by VAR. And the same panel have now reviewed the key incident from the Crystal Palace game. The panel have stated that Gabriel Gudmundsson should not have been given a second yellow card as there was “minimal contact” by the defender: “the challenge was careless and not clearly reckless”.
At that point in the game, the Leeds United bench were furious with the decision. It left them to play with 10 men for 45 minutes in a crucial game away from home to Crystal Palace.
The decisions are piling up against Leeds
At some point, Leeds will have to go up against the Premier League for these decisions. They may look basic, but this is now the second decision reviewed by the Key Match Incidents panel that has cost the team points. Getting a penalty could have changed the momentum of the Sunderland game, and if Leeds did not go down to 10 men against Palace, there was a chance they could have gotten something out of the game.
Those are very important points that will have counted in this relegation battle. Every point counts and Leeds have been denied the chance to win some in games due to the refereeing decisions. The club should hope the refereeing improves from now till the end of the season.
