Neil Warnock Left Fuming As Aston Villa Earn Late Draw

Chris Wright

15th, February 2010

6 Comments

By Chris Wright.

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Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock was left fuming at linesman Trevor Massey after seeing his side concede a contentious late goal, as Aston Villa secured a last gasp 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park in the FA Cup yesterday afternoon.

At 2-1 up in the 87th minute, Palace were looking odds-on to cause an upset by advancing past their Premier League opposition and into the lucrative quarter final stages, but were denied due to an error of judgement from linesman Massey.

When a late John Carew effort was saved by Palace ‘keeper Julian Speroni, the ball could clearly be seen deflecting off Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso before going out of play, but a corner kick was wrongly given. Stilian Petrov duly nodded home Stewart Downing’s centre to force a replay. 

Warnock immediately vented his frustration at Massey’s decision to award Villa the dubious corner kick, by calling for the official to be suspended;

“[The officials] wait and wait to see which way to give it then see that a Premier League team are losing 2-1, so ‘We’ll give it to them’. That’s a disgrace. He should be banned for weeks, Mr Massey, because all he could do was smile.’

The result means that Palace (and their administrators) will at least reap some short-term consolation, as the prospect of a money-spinning replay at Villa Park next Wednesday will offer some much needed financial compensation for the cash-strapped Championship side.

Posted in Aston Villa, Championship, FA Cup

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6 Comments

  1. “the ball could clearly be seen deflecting off Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso before going out of play” – I think that’s a bit strong, sure in slow motion it was quite obvious but at full speed it was far from clear cut.
    Still Villa were lucky against a team they should have beaten comfortably and they could do without the extra game before the cup final.
    Well done to Palace at the end of the day and hopefully a bit of extra cash will be raised from the replay for them.

  2. Ralph says:

    Mr. Warnock didn’t complain when Crystal palace benefited from exactly the same wrong decision when they played Wolves in the previous round. He is also complaining about the same linesman that gave Delfonseou offside twice when he wasn’t and also didn’t flag a penalty against Ashley Young.

    Mr. Warnock is very selective and I feel should be reprimanded for his outbursts when it comes to getting people suspended and fired !

  3. Chringle says:

    We all know what he’s like Ralph. I’m pretty sure he’ll have his wrists slapped by the FA.

  4. Mayo says:

    It’s funny to know that Warnock is definitely facing a penalty for his outburst, but had SAF said the same words there’d be no repercussions

  5. Hirsty says:

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer fella!

  6. Addick Simmo says:

    Warnock is a moron.Maybe he should be banned for weeks.I didn’t hear him moaning about Lees elbow which should of got him sent off.I hope Villa thrash Croydon in the replay.

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