Gary Rowett admitted he is “fed up” with forwards winning penalties so easily as he delivered his verdict on a contentious call during Leeds United’s match against West Bromwich Albion.
Daniel Farke‘s team suffered back-to-back defeats as they returned from The Hawthorns empty-handed on Friday 29 December, with Grady Diangana’s first-half strike the difference as the Baggies won 1-0.
Leeds believed they should have had at least one penalty in the first 45 minutes after Wilfried Gnonto and Georginio Rutter were both pulled down in the box, but Rowett wasn’t satisfied either challenge justified a penalty.
“At first glance, it looked like a good tackle, I mean, does he just get a little bit of contact with the ball?” he stated on Sky Sports Main Event (29 December, 21:10). He has certainly had previous interaction with Rutter.
“I’m fed up with all these penalties going the way of attackers, but again I’m not sure that’s clear enough to give a penalty.”
Unlucky
It appears absurd that Leeds United were not awarded at least one penalty during their match against the Baggies on Friday. Both Rutter and Gnonto deserved penalty kicks, and neither decision appeared to be too contested.
The one that Rowett was evaluating on Rutter was a little more difficult to give because, although it looked like Ajayi made some touch with the ball, the West Brom defender caught Rutter’s trailing leg first only when viewed from the opposite perspective.
Over the course of a Championship season, these kinds of calls usually balance out, but in the past few weeks, it seems like almost every call has gone against the Whites. It might seem like everything is against a team when they are having trouble, and that is just how things are right now at Elland Road.
But with Farke‘s attacking arsenal, Leeds ought to be scoring more goals on their own without the assistance of the referees. Although they didn’t do well in the match, they still felt badly treated at The Hawthorns.
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