Leeds v Middlesbrough controversy ’embarrassing’ as pundit goes berserk on air
Danny Mills was furious with referee Ben Toner after he booked Middlesbrough’s Anfernee Dijksteel in their 3-1 defeat to Leeds United on Wednesday night.
In the 80th minute, when Boro were only one goal behind, Michael Carrick’s men were charging forward in a bid to get back into the game.
Dijksteel was running with the ball but appeared to have his arm pulled back by Leeds’ Manor Solomon. That contact led to Dijksteel losing control of the ball slightly and as Joe Rothwell came in to intercept, the Boro man took out the Whites midfielder.
Ben Doak then had the ball in the Leeds box but Toner blew up for a foul on Rothwell and booked Dijksteel.
Mills thought it was a terrible decision by Toner, claiming it should have been a foul on Dijksteel by Solomon.
“Look, Solomon pulls his arm back,” said Mills on talkSPORT2 on Tuesday night (09:08pm, 10 December). “Look at that.
“[Dijksteel] loses the ball a little bit and then he’s overstretching and he catches Rothwell.
“That is ridiculously poor refereeing.
“My mate Martin Atkinson is up in the stands somewhere. I’m going to ask him afterwards because that is… I don’t get it. It’s that pull on his arm [that causes him to lose balance]. It’s blatant, isn’t it? Solomon pulls his arm back so of course he’s then stretching to try and get hold of the ball and he catches Rothwell.
“That’s embarrassing refereeing.”
Leeds lucky v Middlesbrough as referee has night to forget
Even the most hardened of Leeds fan will admit Middlesbrough were a bit unlucky to not have a penalty in the first half when Joe Rodon brought down Riley McGree in the box.
Toner could be excused on that occasion because he didn’t have the best view of it.
However, the incident that had Mills frothing at the mouth here was something that Toner should have acted differently on.
What Toner should have done was award a free-kick to Middlesbrough because there’s no denying that Solomon grabbed hold of Dijksteel’s arm and pulled him back.
That was the first foul while the ball was in play.
It would have made sense if Toner said to himself, ‘Solomon fouled Dijksteel but Dijksteel then went in very hard and late on Rothwell, so you’re being booked for a challenge that happened after the initial foul’.
It’s a tough and thankless job, refereeing. It’s easy to think of that solution when you’re not in the heat of the moment.
In other Leeds United news, this £30,000-a-week player looks finished at Elland Road – much to the relief of Paraag Marathe.
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