Rangers boss Alex McLeish has hit out at rookie referee Athanassios Briakos for causing confusion amongst the players and fans in last night's UEFA Cup clash with Viktoria Zizkov by awarding a penalty before chaning his mind. Ranger crashed out to the Czech outsiders despite winning 3-1 on the night because they lost the home leg 2-0, meaning Zizkov triumphed on away goals.
Howver, McLeish was left raging at Briakos' performance as the official awarded the Scottish club a penalty which would have put them back in front at 4-1 and 4-3 on aggregate but then changed his mind when he realised that because the ball was dead at the time of the offence, a spot kick could not be awarded.
Although McLeish admitted it was his side's poor first leg performance that ultimately proved their downfall, he still wasn't happy with the referee. "I was totally baffled. I have seen that happen before in an off-the-ball incident and the referee award a penalty. It would be nice to get that clarified. He pointed to the spot, there was no doubt about it, and then he changed his mind," he said.
There were other decisions on the night by Briakos that angered McLeish. "The simulation thing is the one that gets me. Peter Lovenkrands was booked and another time he broke inside the defender on the far side and he was clearly brought down - and the ref waved play on. And that was in the box. It didn't look as though he could spot a real foul. But we disappointed in Prague and regardless of the referee, tonight we had plenty of chances. Some were squandered, some were near misses and the goalkeeper had the game of his life," concluded the Rangers boss.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
