‘Really, really soft’: Portsmouth boss John Mousinho fumes at refereeing controversy in Swansea City triumph
Pompey secured a 3-1 triumph over Swansea City on Tuesday evening.
John Mousinho was left perplexed by the decision to award Swansea City a late penalty at Fratton Park.
And the Pompey boss was also baffled by the call to award a foul against Adrian Segecic in the second half as the Blues pushed for a second.
There was plenty of controversy, however, with one of the game’s key talking points coming on the hour mark when Segecic successfully chased down Jenson Seelt on the right wing.
After the centre-back appeared to slip on the edge of the box, it allowed the Croatian to drive into the penalty area before finding Marko Milovanovic, who was able to tap home.
However, referee Matt Corlett surprisingly called for a foul on the Swansea man - much to the surprise of the Fratton faithful and Mousinho.
The man in the middle was then at the centre of further controversy, when he awarded Matos’ side an 83rd-minute penalty for a foul of Zan Vipotnik.
The striker went down in the box after minimal contact from Regan Poole, with Corlett also handing the Pompey defender a yellow card. The Slovenian international subsequently converted from the spot to level the contest.
Pompey boss fumes at referee controversy against Swansea City
Although the Blues were able to find stoppage time goals from Terry Devlin and Thomas Waddingham to secure the triumph, Mousinho was far from impressed with the two key decisions at either end of the pitch against his side.
‘I thought it (the penalty) was soft, really, really soft’, he told BBC Radio Solent after the 3-1 success.
‘So I thought there were two really big decisions in the game. One where I think it’s Seele that slips and he just slips, I don’t know why it was given.
‘Now whether we score that or not, I don’t know but it was an unbelievable opportunity and it’s just not a foul. We’ve seen it back a few times.
‘I have only seen it on the wide angle the penalty. It doesn’t look like enough for me in terms of the level of contact for a free kick let alone a penalty.
‘I thought that was very, very soft.’
Despite the late penalty drama, Pompey were able to secure all three points, with stoppage-time efforts from Devlin and Waddingham.
The triumph against the Swans, who could’ve gone top with a win, lifted Pompey into 10th and are now level on points with the play-offs, claiming 22 points from 14 matches.
The Blues are now undefeated in their previous six matches and have lost just one of their past 10 games as they continue their impressive evolution.
Mousinho’s troops return to Fratton Park to face third-placed Stoke City ahead of the international break.