Play Man United without a referee? I would prefer that – Toure fury with Wembley officials

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure struggled to
hide his disgust after key decisions went against
Pep Guardiola's side in Sunday's 2-1 FA Cup
semi-final defeat to Arsenal.
Alexis Sanchez pounced to settle the contest in
extra time after Nacho Monreal cancelled out
Sergio Aguero's second-half opener during the
scheduled 90 minutes.
But it was a pair of first-half incidents that festered
for Toure, who added to a personal catalogue of
impressive Wembley displays.
Aguero had a goal ruled out after Leroy Sane's
cross was adjudged to have crossed the byline –
replays suggesting it fractionally stayed in – and
the Argentina striker also had penalty claims
waved away following a challenge from Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain.
"I think the referees have to stop this," said Toure,
who had a superb volley tipped against the post by
Petr Cech 11 minutes from the end of normal time.
"I am very disappointed. It is not the first time,
there have been a couple of times.
"If we have to talk about referees, people are going
to say we complain, but when we see the
highlights, for me it is very disappointing."
Asked whether Sane's cross stayed in play, Toure
responded: "Definitely and it was a penalty and
something more. But what can we do?
"If we talk about the referee the FA is going to
come in for the punishment if we think like that, but
I think I need to sleep and rest and forget this
game."
79. UNBELIEVABLE! What a hit from
@yayatoure and somehow Cech gets the
slightest touch to push it on to the post!
So close from the king! pic.twitter.com/
bRdnwqQNvo
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 23,
2017
There could be sleepless nights ahead for some in
the City camp, with Thursday's derby against
Manchester United now pivotal for Champions
League qualification.
Jose Mourinho's side closed to within a point of
their fourth-placed neighbours by beating Burnley
2-0 at Turf Moor on Sunday.
The officials could have a thankless task in a high-
pressure atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium and
Toure joked that maybe they should stay at home.
"I think Arsenal played well and maybe they
deserved the win, but at the end of the day we are
very sad because after we see the big mistake of
the referee," he added. "All the time – something
needs to stop.
"Maybe on Thursday we will have a better referee
or play without a referee. I would prefer that."
Toure's long-time midfield colleague David Silva is
a major doubt for the derby after sustaining a
hamstring injury in a heavy challenge from Arsenal
defender Gabriel and City missed the mercurial
Spaniard's influence as their Wembley afternoon
unravelled.
"What do you do when you have a problem? You
have to cope with that," Toure said, having also
seen Aguero and Fernandinho limp off moments
before Sanchez's winner.
"We have a great club, we have a great team and I
hope he's going to be fit, but it will be difficult
because a hamstring is always tough to recover
quickly.
"What we have to do is do it for him. It was sad
when he was going off in the first half. He wanted
to help us, but we have to keep on going."

Post a Comment

0 Comments