Ainsworth frustrated by early penalty as Wycome lose heavily to Peterborough
Posted Wednesday, January 22, 2020 by PA
Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth was left frustrated with referee Charles Breakspear’s controversial decision to award Peterborough an early penalty and send off Giles Phillips as Posh cruised to a 4-0 victory over his side.
Ivan Toney converted from the spot to set the hosts on their way before Siriki Dembele added a second on his return to the side following a three-game ban just before the break.
Jack Taylor and Toney wrapped things up in the second half with fine finishes to secure a first win in eight, whilst Ainsworth was left holding his tongue.
“I’m really disappointed with the decision that went against us because it’s changed the whole game,” he said.
“I’m not going to say something that’s going to get me into trouble though and compound this miserable night.
“Having said that we were fine until that moment – we had a plan and we were sharp. I can only describe the decision as very soft and I don’t think anyone in the stadium even appealed for it. Suddenly the crowd were cheering, but I actually thought the referee had blown for offside. I was very surprised to say the least.”
A drab opening came to life in the 23rd minute when Wanderers’ loanee Phillips was adjudged to have pushed Sam Szmodics over in the area and was duly given his marching orders. Toney duly stepped up and fired home his 18th goal of the season from the spot.
Dembele doubled the lead a minute before the break after latching onto a through ball from Toney and coolly slotting home from six yards.
Szmodics went close to a third in first-half injury time with a rasping drive that was beaten away by Ryan Allsop before Taylor somehow failed to convert from six yards from Toney’s cross.
Taylor did put the result beyond doubt, however, in the 56th minute with a curling 20-yard strike following Toney’s neat dummy from Dembele’s pass, whilst Toney lashed home a fourth with 17 minutes to go when Chairboys goalkeeper Allsop cleared Reece Brown’s shot into his path.
Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson was delighted to return to winning ways.
“We clearly needed that and it’ll certainly give the players confidence,” he said.
“We played with a lot more freedom and intensity and although we got a break with the sending off, we were due one.
“Wycombe are always a difficult team to play against, but the second goal really calmed us down after a few sloppy mistakes.
“We’ve now got to continue to play at the tempo we did tonight – the players have seen what rewards that can bring.
“It could have been more than four if I’m honest, it was a really pleasing night and one that everybody here needed.”
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