Middlesbrough 1-0 Luton: Ten-man hosts hold on after penalty drama
- Published
Referee Andy Davies spotted that Luton striker James Collins had kicked the ball against his standing foot and disallowed his penalty
Luton Town striker James Collins saw a penalty ruled out for kicking the ball twice as 10-man Middlesbrough held out for victory against the Hatters.
The visitors trailed to Chuba Akpom's goal, before Sam Morsy was sent off for handball from a Collins shot.
Collins struck the resultant penalty past Marcus Bettinelli in the Boro goal but referee Andy Davies spotted that he had touched the ball twice and disallowed the goal.
The Hatters nearly snatched a point in time added on but Bettinelli made a fine save from Luke Berry's header.
This was actually the second time this season that a team has had a penalty disallowed for the taker kicking it twice at the Riverside, after Boro forward Marcus Tavernier saw one ruled out in the home defeat by Norwich.
It had initially looked as though the penalty was going to stand but Davies eventually decided to rule it out with replays suggesting he made the right decision.
Victory for Neil Warnock's men moved them up to seventh in the table, two points behind the play-off places.
Akpom's goal shortly after the break proved to be the decisive moment, the former Arsenal man scoring for the first time since 3 October from Marvin Johnson's cross.
Tavernier could have wrapped up the win but fired straight at James Shea from a breakaway before Bettinelli's late save secured the points.
Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock:
"After that finish, wow. I am so proud of the lads, the penalty, how we reacted to playing with 10 for such a long time, they defended for such a long time.
"I am disappointed, if I'm honest, with the red card. I'm not sure if the referee is in a position to give it. Sam had been pulled by a white shirt, he fell, then it hits his arm.
"Luton have appealed for every decision, that swung the decision really. Thankfully, when they took the penalty, the ref didn't disallow it but the linesman was excellent looking at it.
"He definitely touches it twice, easier to tell than the one we had against Norwich. People will say lucky but I would say it was just."
Luton boss Nathan Jones:
"I haven't seen it (the penalty) yet, it obviously touched his foot so it was the right decision.
"The assistant didn't give it until they remonstrated with them (officials), then he changed his mind. At no point did he flag. They persuaded him to change his mind.
"If it is the right decision, fine, but that was what I was angry with. It is difficult.
"There were two things I was disappointed with, one was our tempo and the way we started the second half, the other was the way the game panned out. I think the ref could have handled that better.
"Middlesbrough did the professional thing to slow the game out. The ref is in charge of the tempo and it was borderline a joke."
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