Former Premier League referee Chris Foy believes Rotherham United were incorrectly awarded a penalty against Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday, which led to manager Nigel Pearson receiving a yellow card.
Robins defender Zak Vyner was adjudged to have fouled Jordan Hugill inside the area in the 67th minute allowing the Millers striker to convert the spot-kick and level the game at 1-1 before Andi Weimann scored a last-minute winner.
The decision from Josh Smith looked soft as Vyner hardly touched Hugill before the experienced frontman hit the turf. That was certainly the view of Pearson who was furious with the officials and earned a yellow card for his protests.
The City boss spoke after the game about the “irritating, inconsistent and not good enough” EFL officials and was baffled by the penalty call - an opinion that evidently holds some weight with Foy analysing the incident in Sky Sports’ Behind the Whistle feature.
“I think that allowing play to continue in this situation, rather than awarding a penalty is the best decision,” said Foy, who served as a top-flight official from 2001-2015. “There is no doubt that the attacking player gets in front of the Bristol City defender, however the defender does not make a challenge and is clearly looking to avoid contact.
“There is no clear holding or pushing action by the defender and the contact is mainly attributable to the attacker's actions. I don't believe that any contact made by the defending player meets the threshold for a foul to be given.”
Pearson has been left exasperated by refereeing decisions all season, starting on the opening day of the campaign whereby City were the victim of two incorrect decisions concerning penalties contributing to the Tigers’ 2-1 victory.
In August, Pearson claimed he was considering retirement such is the perceived decline in standards by officials and then in January he revealed they had contacted EFL referees’ chief Kevin Friend over the Robins’ lack of spot-kicks on his watch - they went 469 days without a penalty before earning their first since November 2021 in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland in February.
By March, after a 0-0 draw at Huddersfield Town in which he was incensed opposition defender Matty Pearson wasn't red carded for a foul on Matty James, he joked that he and his staff could wallpaper their office with the “excuses and poor reports we get back” from the PGMOL.
In the wake of the victory over Rotherham, he cited conflicting emails the club had been sent by the PGMOL concerning an incident in their 1-0 loss at Sheffield United whereby firstly it was claimed a red card should have been awarded against the Blades for a foul on Sam Bell, only for a follow-up message a few minutes later to state it would have only been worthy of a yellow.
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