Michael Skubala described the late penalty decision that cost Bristol City a draw with Birmingham City as “crazy,” adding that the Robins felt “robbed in that moment.”
The Reds earned their first point of the Championship season in dramatic fashion, drawing 2-2 at St Andrew’s on Saturday afternoon. After taking the lead twice through Scott Twine and Dom Ballard, a Sam Tickle own goal and a late penalty kick denied City victory.
After Ballard appeared to seal up the points with a magnificent backheeled finish in the 85th minute, Birmingham looked to have equalised when Solis turned home from a corner, but the goal was disallowed – after a delay – for an offside.
Chris Davies’ side did, however, have another chance to escape just their fourth home league defeat under his supervision when referee Will Finnie pointed to the spot deep in stoppage time following a corner.
Though the reason for the penalty was unclear, Grey made no mistake, sliding beyond Tickle to start the home crowd’s jubilation.
When asked if he understood why the judgement went against his team, Skubala told Bristol Live, “I didn’t see it at the time, but I’ve seen it since. The linesman called it a handball from Jason Knight, and Rob Atkinson heads the ball, therefore I believe it was a rash decision that did not need to be made.
“The referee has two angles: his angle and the linesman’s angle, and I think the decision is not the right one, which is [why] it is a frustrating afternoon for us, because I think we did enough to win the game.”
On the previous disallowed goal, the City manager explained, “It was offside. The linesman in the corner may have been influenced by the occasion and environment, as Rob Atkinson came through and headed the ball, resulting in three points.It’s a stressful afternoon, but it’s a terrific performance. I thought we did enough to win the game, generated more opportunities, and had more touches in their box than they had in ours, so I enjoyed many aspects of our game, but it’s disappointing.”
Prior to the stoppage drama, the Robins had impressed in the Midlands. Their early pressure paid off as Twine opened his account for the season on 33 minutes, scoring low into the bottom corner after seeing an initial header blocked inside the area.
A stroke of misfortune brought the hosts level before the interval. With only three minutes remaining in regulation, Carlos Vincente’s low finish deflected off the post and onto Tickle’s back before bobbling over the line to tie the game at halftime.
Following an open opening to the second half, Ballard’s spectacular strike – his first in City colours – appeared to be enough to secure victory for the Reds. That fact, combined with what had been the Reds’ greatest performance under his supervision, only added to Skubala’s displeasure come the final whistle.
“I told the players that they should be disappointed because we didn’t win the game,” the Robins manager revealed. “We created bigger chances, we’ve had some good shots on goal, we’ve opened their backline up at times, at a tough place to come.”At times, I believed we looked like the most menacing squad. “We had to defend well away from home and be strong and compact, but I really liked us in moments.”We need to improve our togetherness, but we performed well today in terms of ball control, which was positive.That’s definitely the most irritating aspect of the afternoon, because I believe we did enough to win the game, but it feels like we were robbed in that moment.
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