Southampton FC

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Poortvliet blast for ref Riley

05 Jan 2009 - 08:47:51

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Southampton boss Jan Poortvliet blasted referee Mike Riley after his string of controversial decisions in Sunday's 3-0 FA Cup third round defeat by Manchester United.

Poortvliet suggested his side were not given a fair chance to knockout the Premier League heavyweights after losing Matthew Paterson to a straight red card for a late challenge on Nemanja Vidic.

Riley was at the centre of more controversy three minutes after the interval when he awarded United a penalty for David McGoldrick's handball from Nani's free-kick.

Television replays suggested the ball had struck the back of McGoldrick's head.

"I think a lot of the 3-0 is down to the referee because the goal for 1-0 was offside, I didn't think the penalty should have been one and then we had a player sent off on top of that," fumed Poortvliet.

"The red card was too much because for me one leg was on the ball.

"After that happened though I have to give the boys a compliment because when everything is against you and you go on you can only give them praise.

"I felt sorry for the game in general because we could do more with eleven men and that would have been better for the people watching.

"Manchester United deserved to win for sure, but I think that's normal, especially against a side with 10 men."