Referee admitted error on ‘goal’, claims Harry

Harry Redknapp last night revealed referee Martin Atkinson admitted his mistake in awarding Chelsea’s second goal in the 5-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat of Redknapp’s Tottenham side at Wembley.

Chelsea will face Liverpool in the final on May 5 but Redknapp insisted the course of the tie was changed by Atkinson’s decision that Juan Mata’s 48th minute shot had crossed the line.

Mata’s effort hit the legs of Spurs defender Ledley King who was lying in the goal-mouth and TV replays showed Atkinson got it wrong. “He’s made a big mistake,” said Redknapp. “He’s not done it on purpose. I don’t see how he can give the goal: it’s nowhere near over the line. It’s not as if it’s gone in and someone’s kicked it away, it’s so quick. There were bodies on the line and the ball couldn’t possibly get over the line.

“Goal-line technology has to come into the game. You can’t keep having situations like that. He’s not done it on purpose, it’s one of those things. It was key, but we came back to 2-1. But we were chasing it.”

Redknapp said Atkinson admitted his mistake to him after the game. “I spoke to him,” the manager said. “He says he feels worse than I do. I said: ‘I don’t think so.’ But he says he feels bad. He knows he’s made a mistake and he says he’ll have a bad week as well.”

Roberto Di Matteo, the Chelsea interim coach, was adamant the decision was not match-changing. “Apparently it hasn’t crossed the line, so in this case we were on the lucky side, but many times before we’ve had decisions go against us,” he said. “But we didn’t score two goals. We scored five. I don’t know how much it would matter.”

He added: “I think our team played very well today. It was a great performance by our team. When you’re behind and the game is finishing, you might open up a bit more. But we’re pleased that we scored those goals. It’s a boost of confidence for us.”

Chelsea’s thoughts now turn to the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday when they will face Barcelona.

“It’s good to keep this positive momentum going for us,” he said.

Chelsea’s victory was tarnished by the failure of a number of their supporters to maintain the minute’s silence held in memory of the Liverpool supporters who were killed at Hillsborough 23 years ago and Piermario Morosini, the Livorno player who died on Saturday after suffering a cardiac arrest during a Serie B game in Italy.

Di Matteo said: “We are extremely disappointed that a minority, or just a few, decided to speak or sing during the minute’s silence and not respect it. We are disappointed.”