Posh boss Darren Ferguson stunned by decision not to send off Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Posted Wednesday, March 01, 2023 by PA

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson blasted referee Andrew Kitchen following a second-half flashpoint.

Ferguson had no complaints with the dismissal of defender Josh Knight in a 54th-minute flare-up for kicking out at Charlton’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

But the Posh chief was left fuming the Addicks man escaped with only a caution for retaliation towards Knight.

Charlton rarely looked like making their numerical advantage count as their goal drought stretched to six hours.

“It’s a red,” admitted Ferguson. “But I think it’s got to be two reds.

“It’s a coming together and Josh has been a bit foolish by raising his boot, but it’s nothing compared to what Rak-Sakyi did.

“Rak-Sakyi has thrown himself at him. It’s incredible. It’s one of the most bizarre decisions I’ve seen.

“He threw his whole self at Josh’s face right in front of the referee…and the referee has deemed it is only a booking.

“But that was consistent with how bad the referee was all night.

“I wish I had made more changes for the game as we were off it tonight.

“We weren’t aggressive enough in the first half and didn’t do the basics well enough.

“We managed to get to half-time level and needed to up it a little bit.

“We started the second half well but the referee took away any real contest with a decision like that.”

Substitute Corey Blackett-Taylor tested Posh goalkeeper Will Norris in the closing stages after Ryan Inniss had headed the visitors’ best chance over the crossbar in the first half.

Peterborough’s only real chance fell to League One’s leading scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris midway through the first half, but he was denied by Ashley Maynard-Brewer.

Charlton chief Dean Holden said: “I’m not giving it the Arsene Wenger one…I genuinely didn’t see it at the time and I’ve only seen one angle of the incident since.

“Jes tells me he just shrugged their player off him. It looks like he swings something, but Jes says he literally swung a forearm to push him away.

“Of course we want our players to be law-abiding at all times, but half a second after being stamped on it is difficult to keep your cool.

“If you’re stamped on, I think it’s a natural reaction to want to get someone away from you. I’ve got no complaints at all.

“The game changed after the red card. People think it’s easy to play against 10 men for 30-35 minutes, but it’s not.

“The spaces weren’t there any more and we found ourselves looking for a moment of quality, but overall our finishing wasn’t quite where it needed to be.”