Ref was unbelievable - Ronaldo Monday, March 10, 2008
Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo echoed his manager's sentiments about the refereeing after the shock 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth at Old Trafford yesterday.
Sir Alex Ferguson had laid into the standards of refereeing on Saturday afternoon, even accusing chief Keith Hackett of not doing his job.
There were a couple of very contentious decisions during the game - one in which Cristiano Ronaldo was denied what looked like a very clear penalty - and the winger still cannot believe referee Martin Atkinson's actions.
"It's very frustrating, the referee was unbelievable," he told MUTV. "He didn't want to give the penalty, he didn't want to give yellow cards - I'm very disappointed."
He also slammed officials for not protecting skilful players, after Ferguson had accused Atkinson of allowing Pompey to get away with persistent fouling.
"Refs don't protect skilful players," he said. "I think about the Arsenal player (Eduardo) and I'm scared sometimes to do skills because some players do unbelievable fouls and the ref protects the defender, not the skilled player!
"It's very disappointing and I'm thinking a lot about changing my game. When referees don't give penalties, yellow cards or reds, it's difficult to play."
Speaking specifically about the penalty that was never given after the rather intentional shove by Silvain Distin, he said: "He (Distin) didn't try to take the ball. It's a joke.
"We lost today and everyone is disappointed because we were the best team. We created ten chances while Portsmouth created just one. It's frustrating to lose like that.
"We controlled the game, but we didn't score. Carrick had one cleared off the line [as had Tevez], Patrice hit the post... we had a great chance to win the FA Cup but we need to think now about the Premier League and the Champions League. These are the priorities."
