‘Terrible’ - Gary O’Neil complains about three refereeing decision in Wolves loss v Man City

Gary O’Neil has raised objections to three referee decisions during Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 5-1 loss to Manchester City on Saturday.

Four goals for Erling Haaland and a late Julian Alvarez strike sealed the points for the Premier League champions, while Hwang Hee-chan netted Wolves’ only goal of the game. It was an encounter City dominated from start to finish and were back to their best for long spells.

Wolves never really got going, and although O’Neil acknowledged that his side’s mistakes ultimately cost them, the manager said he was surprised by the officiating in certain moments. The 40-year-old was forced to watch the game from the stands after recent comments he made regarding referee decisions saw him handed a one-match ban from the FA.

Yet O’Neil could incur the governing body’s wrath again, after describing City’s first penalty on Saturday as a ‘terrible’ decision. While attempting to clear the ball, Rayan Ait-Nouri followed through and caught Josko Gvardiol inside the box, a split second after the Croat got his shot away. But O’Neil was taken aback by Craig Pawson’s on-field verdict.

“I have to take responsibility for the way the game unfolds. I think we made a lot of errors for the goals, unforced ones as well, which gave Manchester City some really good chances,” the ex-Bournemouth boss said in his post-match press conference.

“Mistakes against this team can be punished, and they were. They punished us ruthlessly. I’ll talk about the decisions, but I’m keen to state the officials have no real part in the way the game ended up today,” he added. 

“We are fully responsible for the mistakes we made to give Manchester City such a lift. But the first penalty I thought was a really poor decision. I thought the awarding of the penalty was terrible. 

“Gvardiol probably plays as big a part in the contact as Rayan does. He has the shot and his leg is moving through and his motion creates the contract. I don’t know what Rayan is supposed to do in that moment; he can’t vanish. You don’t see them given very often when the shot has gone over the bar and there’s a coming together. It was a strange one, I thought.”

O’Neil wasn’t done, and said he was disappointed how the second penalty of the game was given after Nelson Semedo tripped Erling Haaland as he bore down on goal. It took a pitchside review for the spot-kick to be awarded, something O’Neil was frustrated by.

“I thought the second penalty was a penalty but I’m surprised how they reached it. I thought on-field they would give that, but then I’m surprised that it’s overturned because there was contact from Nels but not much. 

“I was surprised it was deemed clear and obvious, but they do reach the right conclusion on that one.”

Finally, O’Neil felt his side could have been given a penalty themselves after an innocuous moment when the ball struck the arm of Manuel Akanji in the box, with the City defender laying on the deck at the time.

“Potential check for Akanji handball, there was not much made about that. I heard the fans appeal for it and when I saw the replay, he was on the floor and seems to punch the ball away with his hand.

“But as I say, so much for me to focus on with my own group, our mistakes and sloppy turnovers, needed to be close to perfect to get anything today and we fell short on numerous occasions.”

It’s not the first time O’Neil has been outspoken regarding referees and he said earlier this season that VAR is ‘causing a big problem’ in the Premier League, while adding that mistakes are affecting his reputation, Wolves’ progression and ‘people's livelihoods’.