Gary Neville fumes as Valencia denied in penalty drama

Valencia boss Gary Neville called the officiating “scandalous” after a refereeing error saw the Spanish club’s youth side lose to Chelsea in a controversial penalty shoot-out last night.

The Uefa Youth League match ended 1-1 at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground before going to penalties.

Chelsea won the shoot-out 5-4, but only after Alberto Gil’s spot-kick - Valencia’s first of the shoot-out - was wrongly disallowed. Videos showed the ball crossing the line before striking a stanchion and bouncing clear, but both the referee and the official on the goal-line ruled it had hit the post.

The players protested at length on the pitch, and afterwards Neville used Twitter to make clear his own views.

“Scandolous!!! Can’t believe what I’ve just seen....” he wrote about a post from Valencia’s official Twitter feed about the incident, which read: “Incredible! The ball from Valencia has been a goal but the referee has not given it.”

Valencia first-team players Antonio Barragan and Paco Alcacer also complained about the decision on Twitter.