(Reuters) – Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said he was disappointed with referee Martin Atkinson after the official sent off midfielder Luka Milivojevic in Friday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Palace skipper Milivojevic was dismissed in the 87th minute for a bad challenge on Wolves’ Joao Moutinho after the referee checked the pitchside monitor for serious foul play following the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
The sending off capped a frustrating evening for Palace, who had several VAR decisions go against them with a Michy Batshuayi goal disallowed and a penalty award overturned, both for offside.
“My view is it’s not a sending off and I’ve told Martin Atkinson that,” Hodgson told the BBC.
“He thinks there was a reason to give a red card but I’ve seen it as well and I certainly don’t agree with that. It was a fair challenge and there was no intent to contact Moutinho.
“I’m disappointed with that one. It’s the worst part of the evening in a way. There would have been positives to take, but to lose a player for three games for a challenge I didn’t even consider a foul will be hard to take.”
Hodgson told a news conference later that the club would appeal the decision.
Victory thanks to goals from on-loan teenage wingback Rayan Ait-Nouri and Daniel Podence lifted Wolves to third in the table with 13 points from seven games. Palace dropped to ninth with 10 points after their third defeat this season.
Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard
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