Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller believes Pablo Sanchez was offside when Marcelo Carrusca pocketed the match-clinching goal in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
Bruce Djite’s shot deflected into the path of Carrusca, who thundered home the tap-in from point-blank range in the 43rd minute with television replays suggested the hovering Sanchez was tantalisingly close to being caught out of position.
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According to Miller, it should have been a clearcut offside, the Jets boss also miffed at being denied a second-half penalty when Dylan McGowan appeared to clip Ryan Kitto’s foot inside the box.
“I’m sure it (Carrusca goal) was offside,” Miller said.
“Everyone I’ve seen on the way here (press conference) suggested it was offside.
“I spoke to the Fox commentators pitch side (at the time) and they said they were debating and said it was offside.
“I’m not here to talk about controversies, I’m just here to talk about facts. And they’re the facts.
“The only question mark is did he (Sanchez) actually touch the ball or not.
“But his body certainly looked like it was offside.”
“If any instance of the penalty that was given in Perth Saturday night of contact in the box (Melbourne Victory’s Nick Ansell infringing on Andy Keogh), Kitto’s (contact) demonstrated that he was touched in the box as well.”
While Miller was upset at those incidents impacting the result, he was more buoyant when assessing Newcastle’s gallant overall showing, on the back of the previous week’s 6-1 shocker against Perth.
“They demonstrated the gameplan, (and) they executed the gameplan,” Miller said.
“I asked for three things – work ethic, discipline and responsibility for their roles.
“I think we’d all agree that they delivered that.
“We didn’t achieve our goal (to win) but didn’t let ourselves down either.”
The Jets’ performance was all the more impressive considering they were minus captain Nigel Boogaard (suspended) and star playmaker David Carney, who was contentiously left behind in Newcastle and is at the centre of a potential trade between the Jets and Sydney FC.
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According to Miller, Carney was simply not chosen for the Adelaide trip in an attempt to trial newcomers Morten Nordstrand and Steven Ugarkovic, but the veteran is expected to attend training this week.
“My selection was that I’d leave him in Newcastle,” Miller said.
“There was an opportunity for the new signings to travel with the team.
“He (Carney) is contracted to play at the club.
“Until Sydney make their decision based on his future, he’s a contracted player.”
