Blackburn Rovers boss' strong verdict on two refereeing decisions

Yahoo

3 days ago

Valerien Ismael felt Blackburn Rovers should've had a stonewall penalty after losing 1-0 at West Brom.
Isaac Price's first-half goal proved decisive in a tight game at the Hawthorns. Rovers dominated large portions of the game with possession but they didn't create enough clear-cut chances.
One moment of controversy was a potential penalty they could've had in the first half. Yuki Ohashi went down after tangling with Torbjorn Heggem but the referee, David Webb, didn't give anything.
Ismael felt it was a definite spot-kick and thinks there would've been few complaints from West Brom if it had been awarded.
READ MORE:
"Yes, 100%," Ismael said.
"If you see how the referee gave the fouls through the middle of the pitch, or even after that, it's a penalty. If you blew for a penalty, nobody would complain.
"It is what it is. I spoke with him (referee) briefly after the game, so he gave his view. We cannot change anything, but it is what it is. We have to accept and we move on."
Ismael also felt that Rovers might've had a free-kick in the build-up to Price's goal but conceded that they should have defended better.
"I think it's a 50-50 call. I think that you concede a goal that you can concede in the Championship," he said.
"If you don't concede it, it's a free kick for us, it's the right decision as well. But I think that we have to defend better. It's simple like that and you have no discussion."
On the performance, he added: "I think it was a good away game from us but not the result.
"We had a lot of new faces in the team. The players arrived this week, so it was a bit hectic and chaotic.
"I think that throughout the 90 minutes, we were really solid. Second half, much, much better. I think that you saw at the beginning, everyone was a little bit nervous. They didn't know what to expect.
"So that's why I think it was a good away game. We conceded a goal on a set-piece which is a goal you can concede in the Championship.
"Otherwise, I think that's what we have to work on now. It's again, when I came last season, it's our work in the final third.
I think we should be doing better with the last pass, the last cross. We need more quality. We didn't really test the goalkeeper; we need to shoot on target more.
"Those things we must work on but I was pleased with the performance. But the result is disappointing."