Coventry v Sheffield Wednesday controversy: Ex-PGMOL chief on ‘rare’ incident
Coventry were rightly disallowed a second goal in normal time before being taken to extra time and penalties in their FA Cup third round win over Sheffield Wednesday, Keith Hackett has said.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official praised referee Thomas Kirk for ruling out the goal due to Owls goalkeeper Pierce Charles being impeded, which he believes officials do not do enough.
Frank Lampard has had some frustrating days since returning to management with the Sky Blues, but enjoyed a positive one thanks to a win on penalties against Danny Rohl’s side on Saturday (11 January).
Things could have been simpler for Coventry had they been awarded a second goal in normal time, but Hackett feels that would have been the wrong decision.
Coventry City frustrated as game drags on after goal disallowed
With just three minutes of normal time remaining and the score still at 1-0, the Sky Blues briefly thought they had scored a second goal to secure their place in the fourth round of the competition.
As a corner was sent into the Sheffield Wednesday area, goalkeeper Charles managed to get a hand to the ball but went to ground after seemingly being backed into by a Coventry man.
That appeared to impact his clearance, which fell to Sky Blues centre-back Bobby Thomas who able to fire in from close range.
The goal though was immediately ruled out by referee Kirk due to the impeding of Charles, and Hackett has praised the official for his decision, which he does not feel is made enough in the game.
Speaking to Football Insider about the decision to rule out that second Coventry goal, the former referee said:
“I think we’ve got a referee who’s actually on the case. I think that with this as I see in football is the inconsistency with this particular offence, which is blocking, unfair impeding, is generally going unpunished.
“What we’ve got is we’re a seeing a referee who is not necessarily always on TV but we’ve got a newer referee here who decides that that’s an offence.
“I think there is a case for unfair impeding and that goal is ruled out. Generally what we’ve got with unfair challenges in the penalty area is an inconsistent approach by referees to penalising.
“And when someone has the courage to penalise, then that’s brought into question. So for me I think the goalkeeper has been impeded, and it’s a bit of a clumsy impedent.
“So for me I think the referee’s got this one right to be honest. But it’s rarely given that’s why I think it’s been flagged up. I think we see it regularly just going unpunished.”
With Sheffield Wednesday then equalising deep into stoppage time, Coventry had to wait until victory in the penalty shooutout to secure their place in the fourth round.
Having got that win though, they are now set to host Premier League side Ipswich at the CBS Arena in the fourth round of the competition next month.
In other news, Frank Lampard has held talks over signing a Chelsea player for Coventry.
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