Leeds United fans were fuming to see they were denied what was in most fans’ opinion a clear penalty during Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Cardiff City.
A video from Aztec LUFC shows Helder Costa being brought down by Cardiff left-back Joe Bennett in the first half at Elland Road, but the referee Tony Harrington showed no interest in the protests from players and fans. The Whites had stormed into a 3-0 lead against Neil Harris’ Cardiff side but were pegged back to 3-2 before Robert Glatzel completed a memorable comeback for the away side late on.
The equaliser came despite the away side being reduced to ten men in the 86th minute and prevented Leeds from returning to the top of the Championship. Marcelo Bielsa’s side will no doubt be frustrated to have given up a comfortable 3-0 lead but may look back on the penalty decision in the first-half and consider how the match may have ended should it have been given.
Should Leeds have been given a penalty in the first half vs Cardiff?
Yes
No
Reaction from Leeds fans to the potential penalty decision can be seen in the tweets below.
disgraceful decision
— James Mitchell (@_jamesamitch) December 14, 2019
as bad a decision as I’ve ever seen
— Daithi the Elder (@Daithionaroll) December 14, 2019
All EFL officials have been told by the the EFL not to award us anything…its called corruption.
The sooner they are investigated the better.— Balhar Bhachu (@BalharBhachu) December 14, 2019
STONEWALL
— MOTweets (@MOTweets1919) December 14, 2019
Joke decision
— LUFC_Christian (@LUFC_Christian) December 14, 2019
What an absolute joke!
— Chris ratcliffe (@ratcliffe_1985) December 14, 2019
horrifying
— All Leeds Aren’t We (@all_aren) December 14, 2019
These Leeds fans clearly felt that referee Tony Harrington missed a stonewall penalty in the draw with Cardiff and bemoaned the lack of quality of officiating.
What do we think?
Bennett doesn’t seem to make much contact with the ball and perhaps a penalty should have been given, but there can be no excuses for Bielsa’s side after they gave up a three-goal lead which would’ve seen them return to the summit of the Championship.