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Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic has launched an attack on referee Ben Williams for a series of “mind-boggling” decisions in his side’s thrilling 3-2 loss to Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Popovic was pleased with his side’s overall performance and disappointed they didn’t finish the job, surrendering a 2-1 lead with little more than 10 minutes remaining in the match by conceding two late goals to a surging Brisbane.
But he was left most upset by what he saw as inconsistent officiating from Williams, one of Asia’s top-ranking referees, but seemingly a villain in the eyes of many A-League coaches and players.
Popovic, who cut a frustrated figure along the touchline throughout the match, said the referee should have issued Roar defender Daniel Bowles with a second yellow card for a foul on Jaushua Sotirio early in the second half, and also missed another foul on Sotirio in the lead-up to Brisbane’s second goal.
“I don’t know that I’ve been that agitated this year,” Popovic said.
“Some of the things I saw tonight were mind-boggling for me.
“We ask for consistency, we have professional referees, we’ve come to the business end of the season and I think everyone needs to step up.
“The referee we had tonight is a referee that has by far the most yellow cards given out, by far.
“And that’s fine, that’s what he wants to do. We just want consistency.”
Brisbane coach John Aloisi agreed, but said Williams was inconsistent for both sides.
“(Popovic) is going to see his side, I’ll see my side,” he said.
“I thought that he lost a bit of control of the game, but we didn’t let that affect us, that was the main thing, because sometimes it can.”
Aloisi said he was unsure if the introduction of three full-time referees to the A-League this season, of which Williams is one, had actually helped raise the standard of decision-making.
“I don’t know if it’s (full-time refs) helped or not. I’m sure the referee assessors can see,” he said.
“(But) referees also make mistakes like us. We have to understand too, Ben Willliams is one of our best referees. He does a lot of travelling as well, with the Asian Champions League. It can’t be easy for him.”
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