Leeds United defeated Peterborough United 3-0 in the FA Cup third round, and Paul Robinson slammed the “awful decision” not to award Wilfried Gnonto a penalty.
The Italy winger was brought down by Posh defender Josh Knight in the first half on Sunday (7 January) at London Road, but referee Sam Allison seemed unconvinced.
It appeared to be a clear penalty, but Leeds had little recourse because no VAR was present. Robinson, a former Whites goalie, was not pleased with the situation.
“That’s right in front of us, and the referee is in a good position,” he said on BBC Radio 5 live, according to BBC Sport’s live blog.
“The ball comes to Willy Gnonto, and the referee makes a terrible decision not to award a penalty.” It is a punishment.”
Thankfully, it made little difference as Ethan Ampadu’s double sandwiched Patrick Bamford’s stunning goal to send Leeds through to the next round.
Absolute stumbling block
You may argue that Gnonto understood what he was doing by moving towards Knight’s trailing leg, but still, this was an utter stonewaller of a penalty, and Gnonto’s attitude said it all.
Gnonto had a lot of success down the right side all day and should have had an assist when he put one on a plate for Patrick Bamford, only for the striker to head straight at the goalkeeper.
So Allison’s decision not to blow his whistle and gesture at the location will not have helped his attitude, and Robinson is completely correct that the official’s action was actually “awful.”
Still, it didn’t matter too much because Leeds did enough to beat Peterborough and go to the next round, so it didn’t matter too much, but that’s not really the point because it was a penalty every day of the week.
In other Leeds United news, Robinson was annoyed by something Patrick Bamford did during the game.
Leave a Comment