Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has blasted referee Stuart Attwell for his “shocker” of a display at Elland Road on Sunday.
Attwell was the man in the middle for Leeds’ 0-0 draw at home to Aston Villa, but Whelan believes that the referee is responsible for ruining the encounter.
The 39-year-old official handed out seven yellow cards in total, two of which were shown to Whites winger Luis Sinisterra.
The Colombian was dismissed after blocking a Villa free kick, but despite playing the majority of the second half with 10 men, Jesse Marsch’s side came away with a point.
Whelan has now gone in on the official criticising his handling of the match. He said to Football Insider: “The referee had an abysmal game.
“The game was really competitive and it had a physical nature, but I don’t think any of the challenges warranted a yellow card.
“He was inconsistent. If you’re going to set a precedent with bookings for those sorts of things, you’ve got to give it to both sides.
“The game was stop-start. He was whistle-happy, card-happy and he didn’t let the game flow – which made for a very bad game.
“From the word go, you knew someone was going to be sent off. It’s not a great advert for referees, he had a shocker.
“He should’ve known the history of meetings between these teams. He ruined the game, quite frankly.”
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As quoted by Leeds Live following the game, Marsch was less than impressed with apparent time-wasting tactics adopted by Aston Villa on the day, and considering Villa travelled to West Yorkshire without a point on the road, his frustration is understandable.
A trip to Crystal Palace now awaits the American coach’s side, and with games to come against Arsenal and Liverpool later this month, picking up a result against one of the sides around them is imperative.
Leeds sit three points above the Eagles in 12th place, but with only three points also separating them from the bottom three, adding to their two victories is needed sooner rather than later.