The refereeing performance during Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Austria on Saturday night has drawn plenty of criticism, including some from Heimir Hallgrímsson.
The Ireland boss admitted he was ‘unhappy’ with the referee after the match, following a series of controversial incidents.
The hosts scored late on to secure their automatic promotion to the top division of the UEFA Nations League, though there were question marks over whether the match-winner should have been on the pitch at the time.
Sasa Kalajdzic arguably should have been sent off not long before scoring the winner, after appearing to elbow Dara O’Shea in the head.
When asked about the incident afterwards, Hallgrímsson said: ‘I was on a few occasions, let’s say, unhappy, with the referees in this game.
‘I need to see that again, that incident. These incidents, I thought it was a red card as well when Dara was tackled.
‘I’m not going to go into referees but there were a few things which I thought could have been refereed better.’
Shay Given, who was on punditry duty for RTE, also argued that the striker should have seen red for the clash.
Austria could have had another player sent off in the first half when Romano Schmid caught O’Shea halfway up the Ireland defender’s calf with his studs.
Schmid only got a yellow card for the challenge, with Ireland also being denied a penalty shout earlier in the game for a debatable handball.
In the end, Hallgrímsson frustrations also landed on how Ireland conceded the only goal of the game.
Kalajdzic tapped the ball home after it bobbled around the penalty area when the Boys in Green failed to clear a corner.
Hallgrímsson remarked: ‘Obviously, you never like to concede a goal from a set-play and this was second phase or even third phase.
‘That’s the margin at this level. You need to be focused the whole time. If you look at that moment, we probably had six or seven of those ourselves and we could not convert them into a goal.
‘I’m happy with the amount of chances we created but you’re always unhappy to concede a goal and lose.’
