West Brom manager Steve Clarke has admitted that he was left feeling sad and angry at the same time after his side conceded a soft-penalty in stoppage time against Chelsea.
The Baggies were 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge with just seconds left to go when Ramires went down after colliding with Steven Reid in the penalty box, which then resulted in Eden Hazard converting and snatching a point for The Blues.
Replays showed that it was a very soft penalty and Clarke believes the referee was convinced by the home-fans screaming for the spot-kick.
After the game, The Baggies boss admitted to feeling sad, angry and proud all at the same time.
“The boy went into the box, he went down looking for it and the referee obliged him,” argued Clarke.
“The atmosphere at the bigger stadiums when you go away from home can influence decisions, but I think the decision today was particularly galling.
“It is ridiculous to have to take it because it wasn’t a penalty. That’s five points my team have lost because of late decisions on penalties.
“I’m sad and I’m angry but I’m also very proud because we were magnificent today.
“This is a difficult place to come. Chelsea are one of the teams that are going to fight for the title. We suffered a disappointment losing the goal before half-time and in the second half we were really good and deserved all three points.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt
