Ian Wright has reacted with astonishment to the free-kick decision that led to Liverpool’s winner in Saturday’s frantic 3-2 defeat for Newcastle.
United boss Rafa Benitez admitted the decision was yet another “strange” one for his side , who have felt hard done by when it comes to officials this season.
Andre Marriner’s assistant referee flagged for the free-kick after Fabinho went down easily under pressure from Matt Ritchie. It was a point when Newcastle were going toe to toe with the league leaders but Origi nodded the subsequent dead ball past Martin Dubravka.
And assessing the passage of play on Match of the Day 2, Wright couldn’t help but laugh at the injustice, which he felt was indicative of the way things are going for the visitors.
“You’ve got an assistant referee right there, I cannot believe he gave that!” Wright said on Sunday.
“I’m laughing but it’s not funny because if I’m Man City I’m aggrieved by that. You watch Newcastle put in an unbelievable shift, you’re thinking this might be it, and then you get a free-kick like that and they score from it but that’s the way it’s going for Liverpool at the moment.”
United finish their Premier League season at Fulham on Sunday.
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