Western Sydney Wanderers boss Alen Stajcic believes his side didn’t get the rub of the green in Saturday night’s Sydney Derby as they surrendered a late two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Sydney FC.
A Rhyan Grant own-goal coupled with a double from former Sky Blues youth product Zac Sapsford had the Wanderers leading 3-1 heading into the final stages.
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However, goals from substitute Adrian Segecic and Anthony Caceres saw the Sky Blues snatch a point at the death in what was a pulsating Sydney Derby clash played out in front of a bumper crowd at Allianz Stadium.
The result though could and probably should have been so much better for the visitors who dominated large swathes of the contest against their rivals, with Wanderers head coach Stajcic left flabbergasted by some of the refereeing decisions.
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One particular incident that drew scorn from Stajcic was the decision not to award a penalty for a perceived handball by Sky Blues captain Grant in the 58th minute of the game.
“We had a handball with (Jack) Clisby against Melbourne Victory, which, you know, was explained to us earlier in the year, which is why I said I don’t know the handball rule anymore,” Stajcic said in his post-match press conference.
“We were given a specific example by (Head of Referees) Jon Moss that those kinds of handballs weren’t handball. It was almost identical to Clisby’s one and, you know, we copped the late penalty to lose two points, and then Rhyan Grant’s one today was almost identical. For me, (it) was almost identical to Clizza’s.
“I don’t know how they’re any different at all. So, you know, that’s 3-1, potentially 4-1. It would have been a lot harder for them to come back from. But, you know, obviously they’re key decisions in a game like this.”
“I don’t know what the foul count was, we’ve lost that many foul counts this year that I can’t even tell, to be honest,” said Stajcic when asked earlier on in his press conference about the incidents within the game.
“I don’t know what it ended up but in the last 20 minutes, it would have been seven or eight to one, like every foul just seemed to go their way and that adds to the momentum that they can build.
He added: “That’s the quickest yellow card I’ve seen for a goalkeeper this year,” referring to referee Shaun Evans’ decision to book goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas for time wasting in the 85th minute.
“We had that farcical game against Brisbane, where they were wasting time for 45 minutes, and Lawrence Thomas got a ball, got it from one side, put it on the other side, and got a yellow card.
“I thought Speedy Gonzalez was out there, that’s how quickly the card came out.
“I haven’t seen that all year. All year. The first time we played here against Sydney FC, (Andrew) Redmayne took 15 minutes for every goal kick, and at Wanderers when we played as well.
“Lawrence Thomas took three seconds to take (the ball) from that side to that side and got a yellow card. Like I don’t know how that that can happen.
“That level of consistency is just abhorrent. You know, it can’t happen in a game like this.”
The result leaves the Wanderers sat in eighth spot on the ladder, two points outside the top six.
