Saturday 27 December 2014 22:33, UK
Gus Poyet felt his Sunderland side should have been awarded two penalties in their 3-1 defeat to Hull City at the Stadium of Light.
Adam Johnson had given Poyet’s side the perfect start, capitalising on Curtis Davies' error to open the scoring after 30 seconds. But Hull pegged their hosts back with goals from Gaston Ramirez, James Chester and Nikica Jelavic.
The game's talking point came in a flurry of activity before the break where both Alex Bruce and Stephen Quinn appeared to handle the ball in quick succession, but referee Andre Marriner refused to award a spot-kick, leaving the Uruguayan to rue a missed opportunity of building on their Tyne-Wear derby win last weekend.
“It was a very strange game and the first two goals were strange,” he told Sky Sports.
“The first one, our goal, there is no better way to start a game than how we way we started in a situation which is strange to analyse.
“Then we conceded a goal from an incredible bounce which goalkeepers don’t like and then incidents in the game which change games one way or the other created emotions and reactions from players and fans and when they are not right you can pay the price.
“On another day it will go for you but there were big errors made today. I have had the chance to look at the two big decisions today and the first one [Alex Bruce’s penalty incident] is embarrassing.
“If the second one [Stephen Quinn incident] is the only incident in the whole game then you tell me it’s a normal situation to put your hands in front of your face to block a cross then maybe we could discuss. But after the first one the second one is easy, the referee is five yards from the incident he sees that he’s got his hands up.
“There was a hand before the last goal as well so he might have had a problem giving handballs today.”
The Black Cats failed to capitalise on Sunday’s last-minute derby victory at Newcastle and remain 14th, four points clear of the bottom three.
And Poyet, while again highlighting Andre Marriner’s failure to point to the spot, also claimed an inconsistent team selection was also hampering his side’s chances of climbing up the table.
“It hurts because it was a great opportunity but that’s the bottom ten,” he added.
“I don’t think anyone can hide it’s very difficult to go and win two or three in a row. We thought it was the right time for us, we started the game with a goal in the beginning but like I said the key moments that are happening too many times now are not worth talking about.
“I think we need to be better a certain things. For the consistency I want I need at least a consistent back four, we are changing every week at the moment and the way we want to defend and play is difficult.
“Sometimes you need to give credit to the players for keeping clean sheets and doing things in a certain way but other hand to have consistency you need playing week in week out with the same people as that is easier.
“We cannot get a back four with two recognised full backs playing so it’s a little bit difficult at the moment.”
