The quality of officiating in Leeds United’s Championship draw with Aston Villa on Sunday has been roundly criticised by one leading pundit for “woeful decisions”.
The Whites saw their incredibly slim chances of securing automatic promotion to the Premier League dashed after they were unable to better Dean Smith’s side in a 1-1 stalemate at Elland Road.
Both goals were fraught with controversy after Mateusz Klich netted the opener during a period in which Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia appeared to be down injured in midfield following a Liam Cooper challenge.
A subsequent brawl between both sets of players over whether the ball should have been put out of play by Tyler Roberts in the build-up saw Ahmed El Ghazi sent off for an alleged elbow on Patrick Bamford.
Television replays subsequently showed the Leeds striker to have simulated the incident, before Marcelo Bielsa remarkably ordered his side to let the visitors play in an uncontested equaliser by Albert Adomah.
Now, ex-Nottingham Forest and Liverpool player Stan Collymore has sounded off on social media over the conduct of referee Stuart Atwell, Bamford and Bielsa,
“[The] referee not stopping play [equals a] woeful decision,” the 48-year-old wrote on Twitter.
“But [it’s] not any player's responsibility to stop play regardless of whether [the] opposition team did it previously.
“The whistle is the stop in the game. Nothing else.”
The worrying Patrick Bamford development after Leeds United's controversial draw with Aston Villa
Collymore added that Bielsa’s actions were “commendable”, praising the Argentine’s sportsmanship with a thumbs-up emoji.
He however described former Middlesbrough man Bamford as a “s***house”.
United face Ipswich Town on Sunday in their final regular game of the Championship season, before they begin their play-off campaign.
Aston Villa legend hits out at Dean Smith's side after Leeds United controversy
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