Tony Mowbray says referee Matt Donohue's apology for the blunder that cost Sunderland a point against Sheffield United 'does not mean very much'. Black Cats boss Mowbray revealed that Donohue admitted to a member of Sunderland's coaching staff that the Blades' winning goal should not have stood, and it should have been disallowed for offside.
Mowbray was incensed that Tommy Doyle's free-kick goal on the hour was given, as three Sheffield players were standing beyond the Sunderland defence and one of them, Sander Berge, made a clear movement to play the ball. Berge missed it by millimetres but his actions meant he was interfering with play, and yet the linesman did not raise his flag for offside, and Doyle's goal put the visitors 2-1 up at the Stadium of Light and that was how the scoreline remained.
"It would be great if the referee or the linesman could come in here and tell you why they allowed that [second] goal to stand," said Mowbray. "I'm sure you've all seen it because it was a televised game, there were three men offside and one of them went to try and poke it in which means our goalkeeper stands because if he gets a touch...
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"He misses it, I think, but it bounces in. One of my coaching staff has just come out of the officials' office and said the referee has apologised and said he got it wrong, which doesn't mean very much to us at the moment.
"I genuinely sit here and say that if you know anything about football, it's offside. I don't think there's any doubt he's interfering with play, he's made a movement towards the ball and our goalkeeper has stood still rather than getting the flight of the ball and it's gone in. Between the two of them, the linesman on this side and the referee, they've got it badly wrong and it's ultimately cost us a point tonight.
"I've been in football since I left school 43 years ago or whatever it was, and offside is offside - and that is offside. I don't have any grey areas and that's why I struggle with it.
"Is it right that the goal is allowed because the referee is incompetent? Or because him and his linesman's communication was really, really poor? It just shouldn't happen, and yet some guy in a blue top tonight allowed the goal to stand and we had to suffer the consequences of it."
It was a frustrating night for Sunderland, who had taken the lead on the half-hour through Edouard Michut, only for James McAtee to level things up in first-half stoppage time. Mowbray said: "We played against a good team and in the first half in particular we found it difficult to match them, they showed their experience and they sensed an opportunity for themselves with Middlesbrough dropping points last night.
"We scored a really good goal, it gave us something to hang on to but the timing of their [equalising] goal just before half-time was damaging. In the second half we matched them much, much, better and the longer the game went on, we were really good in the second half."
Defeat meant Sunderland are now 12th in the Championship table, and are eight points shy of the play-offs. Second-placed Sheffield United remain on course for automatic promotion, and have increased the gap between themselves and third-placed Middlesbrough to six points.
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