ECL: Rodgers blames referee for Leicester defeat
The big decision came in the third minute when Chris Smalling’s manhandling of Wesley Fofana in the box was not spotted by Jovanovic nor the VAR officials
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers questioned the ability of referee Srdjan Jovanovic after a night of frustrating and questionable decisions as Leicester City were knocked out of the Europa Conference League.
Rodgers suggested the Serbian official may have lacked the speed to keep up with the game, or may have been affected by the atmosphere at Stadio Olimpico, where City lost 1-0 to Roma to fall one win short of reaching a European final.
The big decision came in the third minute when Chris Smalling’s manhandling of Wesley Fofana in the box was not spotted by Jovanovic nor the VAR officials. For the rest of the game, there were lots more dubious decisions.
On the officiating, Rodgers said: “I was very disappointed. I’m not sure if the game was too quick, or if maybe it was the atmosphere, but it felt like virtually every decision went against us.”
Jonny Evans was among a number of players who spoke to the referee at full-time, with Hamza Choudhury and Harvey Barnes also approaching the official as he walked off the pitch. Assistant manager Chris Davies received a red card after he approached the official. Evans, trying not to let his anger show, said afterwards: “I think we all were very frustrated with the referee tonight, yes.”
However, even discounting the referee’s decisions, City did not fashion many opportunities in their attempt to reply to Tammy Abraham’s early header from a corner. In the end, they were knocked out without really troubling Jose Mourinho’s side.
Rodgers said in his assessment of the game: “Congratulations to Roma, they’re through. For us, it’s clearly disappointing.
“There weren't too many big chances in the game for either side. They were better than us in the first half, even though they didn’t create much. I felt we needed to impose our game more and we changed our system at half-time. We had a lot of play in the second half but couldn't make the breakthrough in the game.
“The players have given everything. Our Achilles’ Heel all season has been set-pieces, and it’s undone us again this evening in a tight game, so clearly that’s very disappointing.
“For the players and everyone, it’s been a great journey in Europe for us these past couple of seasons. The players will learn and gain a lot of experience from it, and nights like tonight will stay with them and give them motivation going forward.”
