Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic declared any explanation from referee Jarred Gillett about Mark Bridge’s disallowed goal against Melbourne City will be “irrelevant”.
The Wanderers lost 3-2 to City at AAMI Park on Saturday night following Harry Novillo’s 85th-minute winner but it was Gillett’s involvement seven minutes earlier that got tongues wagging around the Hyundai A-League.
MATCH REPORT: Sensational Novillo strike ends Wanderers unbeaten run
Gillett clearly blew his whistle to re-start play after awarding a free-kick to the visitors and Western Sydney attacked immediately, with Bridge bursting into the box to score.
But the goal didn’t stand.
A clearly flustered Gillett eventually called on the Wanderers to take their free-kick again.
Gillett’s decision to call Patrick Kisnorbo up for a chat and leaving the City captain out of position was apparently the reason Popovic’s men were denied a 3-2 lead.
“He [Gillett] clearly asked Patrick up for something, to explain him something and knew that he didn’t allow him time to get back [into position] quick enough,” City coach John van ‘t Schip said after the game.
Popovic insisted he doesn’t need Gillett to explain his actions.
“We’ve had no explanation. I don’t think we need one,” Western Sydney’s boss said.
“He [Gillett] blew the whistle to play. We played. We scored. That’s it.”
Popovic added with more than a hint of sarcasm: “He’ll explain it on Fox [Sports] and that will make it all better.”
Saturday night’s defeat ended the Wanderers’ unbeaten run at nine matches but Popovic remained upbeat.
“There are a lot of good things… we’re not happy that we lost but we didn’t lose because it’s a poor performance,” he said.
Van ‘t Schip was relieved to have claimed three points, extending City’s undefeated streak at home to four matches.
The Dutch coach conceded his team failed to deal with the Wanderers for long periods.
“They tested us. They pressed us very, very high and in a good way, and we were struggling [at times],” Van ‘t Schip said.
City moved within three points of second-placed Western Sydney with the win.
