Wayne Rooney claims Derby should have had three penalties in draw with Coventry

Posted Sunday, March 20, 2022 by PA

Frustrated Derby manager Wayne Rooney claimed his team should have had three penalties after they were held 1-1 by Coventry at Pride Park.

Rooney insisted referee Darren Bond should have awarded two other spot kicks in addition to the one dispatched by Tom Lawrence to rescue a point for the Rams.

Derby had gone behind to a superb goal from Matt Godden in the 28th minute after he played a one-two with Callum O’Hare before firing low past Ryan Allsop.

But Derby kept pressing and in the 66th minute, Lawrence was tripped by Ben Sheaf inside the area and the Wales international smashed the penalty past Simon Moore into the top right corner.

Coventry had a great chance to regain the lead three minutes later when Viktor Gyokeres broke away but he fired high over the bar.

They had another excellent chance in the 81st minute when Godden sent Gyokeres through on goal but his low shot struck Allsop.

Lawrence saw a 25 yard free kick clawed behind by Moore who turned another free kick, this time from Malcolm Ebiowei, over but was beaten when a Louie Sibley header struck the inside of a post and bounced to safety.

Rooney said: “I thought the performance was very good, we certainly deserved a point, probably three but I think it’s a big important point for us.

“I think the referee had to give us one penalty out of the three we should have had. I told the referee after the game ‘that’s not good enough’, the one on Lee Buchanan is a clear penalty.

“The referee might walk in off the pitch and think ‘I’ve done a good job, I’ve given a penalty which was a penalty’ but, actually, there are two clear penalties which he’s missed.

“It’s frustrating. We got emails back yesterday (about decisions at Cardiff and Bournemouth) and apparently Festy (Ebosele) is too big and strong to go down. They said there was contact on Festy at Cardiff but he’s a strong lad, he shouldn’t go down.

“Curtis Davies got thrown to the floor, he’s a strong lad, he should be able to handle himself so none of those two are fouls.

“It was a penalty on Ravel Morrison (at Bournemouth last week), they admitted that so the referee is going to go with a referee coach and analyse what he got wrong.

“I don’t like sitting here and going on but when they are so clear it’s frustrating.”

Coventry manager Mark Robins said: “I thought we started off okay. We got on the front foot a little bit more after the first 10 or 15 minutes and switched the play which gave us a foothold and led to a really good goal.

“Getting to half-time at 1-0 was good knowing they’ve got fresh legs and have had a day more to recover which always makes a difference so coming into the second half was always a stretch.

“I think the penalty was harsh, I really do, I think it was a little bit searching for the leg. But then the penalty is a brilliant penalty, no keeper in the world is saving it.

“And then we had a chance to win the game but I think a point here, in the circumstances, is a good one.”