Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has called on referee David Elleray to admit to making a significant error during the club's 3-2 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday. Jaaskelainen was penalised by Elleray for time-wasting when he gathered the ball only to have his path blocked by Newcastle's Alan Shearer. From the free-kick awarded against Bolton, Shearer scored the first of his two goals on the day but Jaaskelainen is adamant the former England striker should have been punished instead for obstruction.
"Referees should hold their hands up when they make mistakes like this," he said. "David Elleray had a good game otherwise but I don't think he made the right decision. I was doing my best to get rid of the ball within the time allowed. At half-time Elleray came up to me and said I should have thrown the ball away. But that's not the rule, I should have been able to kick it clear if I wanted to but that was impossible within the time."
"I knew I held the ball for a long time but that was because I was being blocked by Alan Shearer. I tried to release the ball twice but both times he was in the way. I was certainly not time-wasting. But the referee wasn't looking at the time, he just counted it as nine seconds and then blew his whistle," he added.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
