{"id":21704,"date":"2011-12-26T18:44:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-26T18:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/martin-oneill-defends-referee-howard-webb-after-penalty-howler-costs-black-cats-victory-over-everton\/"},"modified":"2011-12-26T18:44:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-26T18:44:00","slug":"martin-oneill-defends-referee-howard-webb-after-penalty-howler-costs-black-cats-victory-over-everton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/26\/martin-oneill-defends-referee-howard-webb-after-penalty-howler-costs-black-cats-victory-over-everton\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin O\u2019Neill defends referee Howard Webb after penalty howler costs Black Cats victory over Everton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunderland<\/a> manager Martin O’Neill<\/a> sprang to the defence of referee Howard Webb after the World Cup final official incorrectly awarded Everton<\/a> a penalty that ultimately cost the Blacks Cats a first win over the Merseyside club since December 2001.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill adopted a diplomatic stance towards English football\u2019s leading referee, who has been selected to officiate at Euro 2012, after Everton counterpart David Moyes admitted that the decision to award the Toffees a spot-kick was a \u201cterrible\u201d one.<\/p>\n

Sunderland had been on course for the third victory of O\u2019Neill\u2019s four-game reign on Wearside thanks to Jack Colback\u2019s first senior goal for the Stadium of Light side until Webb\u2019s untimely intervention.<\/p>\n

The Yorkshireman infuriated the home crowd by pointing to the spot when Leon Osman fell to the ground following a miskick, with replays showing there was no contact made on the midfielder from an opposition player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a great decision by an otherwise top-class referee,\u201d O\u2019Neill told reporters at his post-match press conference. \u201cI spoke to him about it but he hadn\u2019t seen it back but I obviously had.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaturally, he must have thought there was contact but clearly there wasn\u2019t and obviously it is disappointing. Like everything else, players get things wrong and so do managers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to preface everything and I said this to Howard that they the job they do is the most difficult in the business and even though he is only seven or eight yards away from it he only gets one look at it. It is a difficult task. But I still think I probably did miss referees when I was away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Aston Villa manager also cleared Osman of blame for his role in winning the second half penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that when one misses the ball completely you are bound to go down awkwardly,\u201d O\u2019Neill added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I wouldn\u2019t be attaching any blame to a player in any way because he had an air-swipe, missed it and you are bound to be off-balance and then go down. I think he has made a positive attempt. I don\u2019t think he has tried to con anybody at all.<\/p>\n

“I just think the referee has got to try to see that from that distance. He hasn\u2019t done so it is just disappointing but it is gone. You can\u2019t do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the set-back, O\u2019Neill was satisfied with his players\u2019 efforts, and singled out young midfielder Colback for his contribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started off tentatively and Everton ended up getting a couple of free headers early on,\u201d O\u2019Neill continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cTitus Bramble going off did cause us a problem having to re-arrange things so early but Jack Colback did exceptionally well for us and got the goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe penalty is a big incident in the match and I thought it might put is on the back foot in the second half but we came back again well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have taken seven points from my first four games. We didn\u2019t get beaten but in the last five minutes I though we might score when [Sylvain] Distin made a clearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe swirling wind stopped it being an entertaining spectacle but the lads are disappointed with the outcome and maybe that is encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of more immediate concern to O\u2019Neill are the injuries that saw defensive duo Titus Bramble and Phil Bardsley unable to return for the second half of the clash, with both players set to be assessed at training on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is worrying for the players and worrying for us,\u201d added O\u2019Neill, whose side host Manchester City on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill sprang to the defence of referee Howard Webb after the World Cup final official incorrectly awarded Everton a penalty that ultimately cost the Blacks Cats a first win over the Merseyside club since December 2001. O\u2019Neill adopted a diplomatic stance towards English football\u2019s leading referee, who has been selected to officiate at Euro 2012, after Everton counterpart David Moyes admitted that the decision to award the Toffees a spot-kick was a \u201cterrible\u201d one. Sunderland had been on course for the third victory of O\u2019Neill\u2019s four-game reign on Wearside thanks to Jack Colback\u2019s first senior goal for the Stadium of Light side until Webb\u2019s untimely intervention<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMartin O\u2019Neill defends referee Howard Webb after penalty howler costs Black Cats victory over Everton - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/26\/martin-oneill-defends-referee-howard-webb-after-penalty-howler-costs-black-cats-victory-over-everton\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Martin O\u2019Neill defends referee Howard Webb after penalty howler costs Black Cats victory over Everton - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill sprang to the defence of referee Howard Webb after the World Cup final official incorrectly awarded Everton a penalty that ultimately cost the Blacks Cats a first win over the Merseyside club since December 2001. 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