Rotherham manager Matt Taylor questions decision in lead up to Burnley’s winner

Posted Thursday, November 03, 2022 by PA

Rotherham manager Matt Taylor was furious after his side conceded in the 10th minute of added time in a 3-2 defeat at Championship leaders Burnley.

Halil Dervisoglu completed a dramatic late turnaround deep into stoppage time, which had started with 10-man Rotherham leading 2-1.

Taylor was angry about the award of a Burnley throw-in which he claimed led directly to Burnley’s winning goal, after his side had twice led through Ben Wiles and substitute Chiedozie Ogbene.

The Millers boss said: “You need various things when you come to Burnley – you need a good performance, which we had, you need a little bit of luck, which I’m not sure we had on the night, and you need the officials to make the right decisions, and we certainly didn’t get that.”

Asked which decisions frustrated him most, Taylor replied: “The throw-in which led to the third goal. You could see my players’ reaction, clearly. The fourth official saw it, the linesman was two yards away and didn’t see it.

“My player has gone to pick up the ball because it was our throw-in, and then he’s out of position for the third goal.

“People will think I’m moaning but they are huge, huge moments in the game.”

The moment came in the final minute of the indicated 10 in the second half, while referee Leigh Doughty had also played six more minutes in the first half.

Taylor added: “It always happens to Rotherham when we go to a bigger club. They’ll play the maximum amount of time, like they did in the first half. We have that week in and week out.”

Rotherham had led through Wiles’ early header, which was cancelled out when Jay Rodriguez nodded in his ninth goal of the campaign, but substitute Ogbene had seized on a Vitinho mistake to fire past Aro Muric and restore the Millers’ lead.

But after Rotherham’s Cohen Bramall picked up two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes, Manuel Benson equalised early in added time and Dervisoglu went on to secure all three points for the Championship leaders.

Clarets boss Vincent Kompany said: “I was thinking it would be one of those nights when it won’t go in, but we kept going and were rewarded. It gives us a night to remember.

“The guys are happy in the dressing room. It’s a team that can do 95 minutes, or double that, if they need to. Fitness is not a problem with these guys.”

Burnley have on six of their last seven and are unbeaten in 16 but Kompany is urging his players to stay grounded.

“We have to live on the momentum,” he said. “(I) got warned by many coaches about those guys who are top by Christmas and then drop off. We need the right mindset not to focus too much on the league but on improving our performance.”