Potter baffled by ‘confusing’ goal ruling in West Brom loss

James Holland
Graham Potter Brighton

Brighton boss Graham Potter says he ‘doesn’t understand’ the refereeing decisions made in their 1-0 loss to West Brom.

Kyle Bartley opened the scoring for the Baggies in an eventful match at The Hawthorns.

Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck went on to miss penalties for the Seagulls.


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The main talking point of the match was Lewis Dunk’s disallowed free-kick.

The defender scored after Lee Mason blew his whistle, only for the referee to rule it out.

The goal was then given before being ruled out a second time by VAR.

Speaking about the decision, Potter told Sky Sports (via BBC Sport): “As far as I know, Lewis Dunk asked to take the free-kick quickly and the referee said yes. In between that there was another whistle. I don’t know what that whistle was for.

“It would be nice for a bit more clarification. I don’t know what the second whistle is for. I don’t understand that.

“The confusion is on the pitch and it gets worse when someone outside this area is making the decisions. It is what it is. We’ve not helped ourselves with the two penalties so I cannot put it all down to that [disallowed goal].

“We need to improve and get better at that [taking penalties]. We’re never going to get two better chances. We have to stay calm.”

Brighton will rightfully feel hard done by following the controversial decision.

However, their struggles in front of goal are continuing to let them down.

They’ve scored just one goal in their last four matches in all competitions.

That’s despite them creating a number of good chances, especially against West Brom.

Connolly missed a golden chance to score in the 50th minute.

He reacted first after Sam Johnstone saved a shot from Neal Maupay.

But the forward blazed his shot over, leaving Potter in despair on the touchline.

The manager will be hoping for a return to form in their next match.

They play Leicester on Saturday March 6.