Leeds boss Daniel Farke believes it ultimately would not have mattered had Patrick Bamford’s opening goal in the 3-0 win over Rotherham been chalked off for handball as he felt his side dominated the Championship clash.
Bamford put Leeds ahead in controversial circumstances at Elland Road with heavy suggestions of handball after a deflected cross appeared to brush his arm on its way in.
Crysencio Summerville added a second after the break and grabbed another from the penalty spot as the hosts made it six wins in a row with the Yorkshire derby triumph as Leeds remain third in the table.
Farke admitted he had not seen the opening strike back but that it would not have impacted the final result had it been disallowed as Leeds had too much for the Millers to handle.
He said: “If I’m honest I haven’t watched it back, someone mentioned it’s a possible handball or the ball was deflected by Patrick’s arm. For me it’s not possible to judge it.
“You have to say if it was a handball then probably it should have been not allowed but if I’m really honest normally you say over the course of a season everything is a bit equal.
“I also think normally it’s important during a game if it’s a goal or not a goal but today it was not important because we created so many chances.
“I think even if this situation would have been disallowed, I think it would still be the same outcome and to win. I think in the end it was not a decisive moment, we were too dominant.
“Rotherham is a side which still fights until the end in order to be successful in this relegation battle, they never gave up, also in the last 10 minutes they had a few set pieces, so that we are happy with the 3-0.”
The Millers remain bottom of the Championship and are 12 points from safety as they face the prospect of relegation to League One.
Boss Leam Richardson revealed referee Andrew Madley apologised at half-time over the opening goal but was not pleased with assistant referee Nick Hopton allegedly joking with Bamford at full-time, which he felt was ‘unprofessional’.
But he congratulated Leeds on their win and said: “I thought we started the game in the ascendancy and the goal hasn’t cost the result but it’s led to a large part of it with the handball, so you’re disappointed for the players with the work ethic they’ve put in.
“But congratulations to Leeds, they’re up there for a reason, you can see the quality of player and what happens if you give them chances.
“With the result, I think the 10 minutes in the second half [where Leeds scored twice] killed the game.
“Their first goal was disappointing with how it came about with the decision because I think it’s an easy decision. But I’m very respectful of the officiating, they’ve got a million and one things to make.
“Andy has apologised but I didn’t really appreciate the linesman who was on this side laughing and joking with Patrick after the game.
“I think that’s unprofessional but that’s not an excuse and we’ll move on from that. That’s their takeaway to get better themselves.”
Howard Webb admits Forest should have had penalty in controversial Everton defeat
Howard Webb admitted officials got one of the big decisions wrong in Nottingham Forest's controversial Premier League defeat to Everton this month.
Forest were beaten 2-0 at Goodison Park on April 21 but were left fuming that referee Anthony Taylor did not award a penalty despite three separate calls involving Ashley Young.
Following the game, Forest released a controversial statement on the social media platform X - formerly Twitter - that hinted at the fact VAR Stuart Attwell was a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town and should not have been involved in the game.
Webb was speaking about the incidents on the Mic'd Up TV programme and claimed that while the first decisions were "really subjective calls", the third one , which saw Young challenge Callum Hudson-Odoi, should have resulted in a penalty for Nuno Espirito Santo's team.
"The referee waves away the penalty appeal. The VAR looks at it and asks himself the question, 'Was the non-award clearly and obviously wrong?' and came to the conclusion it wasn't," Webb said.
"He doesn't see a clear action by Young that he considers to be worthy of intervention, one that reaches the threshold of being very clear.
"But we would have preferred an intervention for the referee to go to the screen to make a judgement for himself in this situation and probably would have come out with a different outcome if that would've happened."
"The game is played by human beings, it's officiated by human beings. And obviously our job is to try to ensure that we have a positive impact on the game by identifying correct decisions on the field. This wasn't one.
"But of course they're humans making judgements as well, so we always are trying to reduce the number of errors that we that we make."
Webb also said referee Michael Oliver will have been "really disappointed" to have not originally spotted a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies as Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-2 in the North London derby on Sunday, with a VAR intervention eventually awarding a spot-kick.
"I know Michael [Oliver] will be really disappointed," added Webb.
"He had a really good game. He's one of our top referees and one of the top referees in the world."
'It's time for a magical night at home,' says Vinicius ahead of Bayern Munich second leg
Vinicius Junior is eyeing "a magical night at home" when Real Madrid welcome Bayern Munich for their Champions League semi-final second leg next week.
The two European heavyweights shared a 2-2 draw in a pulsating first leg at the Allianz Arena, setting up a grandstand climax when the battle resumes at Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius opened the scoring in the 24th minute, but Madrid found themselves 2-1 behind in the second half after Leroy Sane levelled and Harry Kane slotted home from the penalty spot.
However, the Brazil international was also on target from the penalty spot to ensure a share of the spoils with his 31st direct goal involvement in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 season - more than any other player in that time.
"We always want to win, but we know that this competition is like that, you can't give away balls because teams score the chances they have," he said, as reported by Reuters.
"We have to keep our heads calm, rest until next week, and we know that we and the fans are going to leave everything at the Santiago Bernabeu to qualify.
"Now it's time for a magical night at home to win and secure our place in the final."
Vinicius' first goal saw him calmly slide home from Toni Kroos' delicious throughball, with the latter playing 15 line-breaking passes in the first half - at least 10 more than any other player on the pitch.
Rodrygo, who was fouled by Kim Min-jae for the penalty that led to Madrid's second goal, paid tribute to the 34-year-old.
"We all keep telling him to keep on playing for not just one more season, but many seasons to come yet," he told Movistar. "He's genuinely a maestro with talent which people love to watch, and we all love to play with.
"If we couldn't win, we were determined not to lose. Given what went on, a draw's a good result. We know the Champions League. We're accustomed to matches like this.
"I believe that teams think they've killed us off, and that's when we are at our most dangerous."
Ancelotti lauds Real Madrid goalscorer Vinicius after first-leg double
Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior is constantly developing his attacking output, after the Real Madrid forward delivered again in the Champions League.
Vinicius scored twice as Madrid drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday.
Those strikes took Vinicius to 31 goal involvements (16 goals, 15 assists) in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, which is more than any other player in the competition in the same time period.
Vinicius' opener came when he cut inside and latched onto an exceptional pass from Toni Kroos, and Ancelotti pointed out how the Brazil international is beginning to change how he attacks.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ancelotti said: "Vinicius is starting to understand how important it is for him to move inside the pitch and not only close to the line.
"He's learned really well how to move. It was a fantastic pass from Kroos but a fantastic run from Vinicius."
Reflecting on his team's performance, Ancelotti said: "It was an interesting game, an open game of course – as it has to be for a semi-final. I think we could play better, I don’t think we played our best and we had problems in the first half.
"We started to put pressure on in the second half to level the game – it was much better.
"We are comfortable with a low block but we didn’t play with intensity. With a low block you have to have intensity, you have to win duels, second balls. We were too low. We tried to change something.
"The game was difficult at 2-1 down, but then we had the energy and character to equalise – the second part of the second half was really good."
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