Ferguson 'astounded' by assistant referee

Alex Ferguson has questioned whether assistant referee John Flynn should ever be appointed to a Premier League match again after his penalty blunder cost Manchester United victory over Newcastle at Old Trafford this afternoon.

United were held to a 1-1 draw which will see them fall seven points behind leaders Manchester City if they win at Liverpool tomorrow.

But the result hinged on a highly dubious penalty call, when United were leading through Javier Hernandez’s second-half effort.

When Rio Ferdinand slid in on Hatem Ben Arfa, referee Mike Jones indicated a corner, only for Flynn to signal a spot-kick.

TV replays indicated Ferdinand’s challenge had been legal but after discussing the decision with Flynn, Jones refused to overrule his assistant and Demba Ba tucked home the spot-kick.

“Everyone was astounded,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“The referee was so near. He was only eight yards away.

“Whether he ever gets a game again the assistant referee is not for me to decide.

“But it was an absolutely shocking decision. It costs you that.

“Two years ago when the linesman gave an offside goal for Chelsea it cost us the league.”

Although Ferguson did not claim the officials were unfit, as he did of Alan Wiley in 2009, a statement he was forced to apologise for and still received a two-match touchline ban, he did make one quite pointed remark.

“The problem is the referees are full-time and the linesmen are not,” he said.

Ferguson recounted an incident in the home game against Sunderland earlier this month, when a linesman flagged for a penalty, only for referee Lee Mason to, correctly, give the decision in United’s favour as an example of what should have happened.

“We had a situation a few weeks ago,” he said. “The linesman gave a penalty for a handball, which was obviously an opponent’s hand.

“He was put in a terrible quandary. He didn’t know what to do.

“But he knew fine well it was a handball from an opponent and overruled the linesman. That is what he should have done today.”

Ferguson confirmed he had not spoken to Jones after the final whistle.

“I never speak to referees, never,” he said. “There is no point.”

United players surrounded Jones at the final whistle, with Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney particularly upset as they made their way off the field.

Even Newcastle manager Alan Pardew accepted his team had “got a break”, although he did feel Ferdinand had taken a chance by sliding in.

“It was a good spell for us,” he said.

“We put them under pressure and you can get something when you do that, even against the best teams.

“I thought the tackle was risky.

“He definitely played the ball. I have seen it.

“Whether the referee thought he took a bit of Hatem before he got the ball is debatable.

“If it was against me I would be very aggrieved.

“We got a break but we still had to score the goal and Demba was very cool. The place was going mad. I wouldn’t have liked to take it.”

Newcastle deserved some credit for the barrage of late attacks they managed to withstand, despite having Jonas Gutierrez sent off.

Tim Krul made a string of fine saves, former United defender Danny Simpson denied Hernandez with a magnificent goalline clearance and the Mexican had an effort ruled out for offside deep into stoppage time.

“It was a fantastic performance by us and an incredible result,” said Ferguson.

“I could see us scoring because we kept creating chances and the normal pattern of these 15-minute surges is that we create chances and we are okay.

“They put their bodies on the line. I give them credit for that.

“We absolutely slaughtered them but we just couldn’t get the result.

“It is disappointing but if we play like that every week, I will be very happy.”

After playing both Manchester clubs away from home on successive weekends, Pardew declined to say who he thought would end the season on top.

He does think last weekend’s loss taught his own side a valuable lesson that helped them immensely today.

“It is going to be about when they come up against the top teams,” said Pardew.

“That is going to be the difference. To say which one I favour would be unfair on either camp.

“I do know we sat off Manchester City last week.

“We made an error doing that. I felt we were better today.

“I don’t know where to start with the second half. It was all going off.

“Our attitude and defending deserved a point. The heroism in that penalty box was unbelievable. They were Geordie heroes.”