Leeds United have had their fair share of refereeing decisions go against them this season. The most recent being in the Middlesbrough game a few weeks ago.
Assistant referee Darren Williams ruled out a clear goal from Ao Tanaka at the Riverside stadium. After the goal was disallowed, Middlesbrough put Leeds under pressure for large parts of the game and nearly got the equalizer. However, Daniel Farke’s men stood firm to see out a 1-0 away win.
The win set the team up for another huge win over Preston, that put the club in the driving seat for automatic promotion.
QUIZ: Can you name the Leeds game these 10 goal celebrations are from?
Oxford United boss criticizes refereeing after Leeds United game
Credit: Imago Images
Leeds made it three straight wins in a row after beating Oxford United on Friday night. The win did not come easy as the U’s put up a fight, and restricted the league leaders to scoring just one goal away from home. With that win, the Whites are one step closer to the Premier League.
After the game, Oxford United boss was unhappy with the officiating in the game. Gary Rowett went to the referees room and spent 15 minutes complaining to the officials before coming out for his post-match press conference. During the presser, he revealed the decisions in the game he felt went against his team:
“Sometimes you just need the rub of the green,” he said. “I think there was one where [Alex] Matos charges the goalkeeper down, it’s a clear corner and they give a goal kick. There was another where [Michal] Helik heads the ball down, gives a foul against Helik, nothing there.
“We’ve had it all season, we’ve had no penalty all season, you don’t quite get the rub of the green if you’re the smaller team, occasionally. I don’t think it massively affected the game, I think it just disrupted one or two of those moments of pressure where I think the decision helped relieve it for Leeds a little bit. ”
Does Gary Rowett have a point?
The incidents he references in the game were not impactful enough to really change the result. Leeds scored a perfectly legal goal to seal all three points, all his complaints are quite minimal in the grand scheme of things.
It is more likely that Gary Rowett is frustrated over the refereeing that has gone against his side over the course of the season. But in Friday night’s game, there was really nothing controversial to rant about.
