Ferguson furious as Chelsea’s Luiz escapes red card for Rooney foul
March 2nd, 2011 - 3:12 pm ICT by ANI
London, Mar 2 (ANI): Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is furious with referee Martin Atkinson and questioned his integrity after seeing his side slump to defeat at Chelsea and miss the chance of taking a firm grip on the Premier League title race.
Frank Lampard scored the winner from a disputed penalty but Ferguson was most angry that David Luiz escaped a red card after a cynical foul on Wayne Rooney, who opened the scoring with a 25-yard screamer.
“You want a fair ref. I don’t know how he got this game. When I saw who was refereeing it, I did fear the worst. It’s been three years in a row now down here,” Ferguson said.
The same referee was also in charge when United lost at Stamford Bridge last season and the United boss disputed the free-kick which led to John Terry’s winning goal, The Sun reports.
Ferguson was quick to accuse Atkinson of letting Luiz off the hook. The Brazilian was already in the book when he made bad challenges on Rooney and Javier Hernandez.
Ferguson said: “I don’t know how he’s on the pitch. He’s done Hernandez off the ball. Nothing’s done and the referee’s in front of it. He’s done Rooney, clear as day, and he’s six yards from him. Doesn’t do anything. These decisions change the game. You hope you get a really strong referee in games like this. And we didn’t get that. The penalty was so soft - deary, deary me.” (ANI)
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Tags: alex ferguson, boss, chelsea, clear as day, david luiz, firm grip, frank lampard, free kick, hook, john terry, manchester united, martin atkinson, pitch, premier league, referee, sir alex ferguson, slump, stamford bridge, sun reports, wayne rooney