Burnden Aces

Evatt: Rotherham Should Have Been Down to 10 Men

• January 01, 2022 | By Chris Mann
• Short URL: http://b-ac.es/89bfc

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• Ian Evatt, Rotherham United
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Ian Evatt believes Bolton should have been playing against 10 men for more than an hour of their defeat at Rotherham United.

Pointing to an incident which occurred midway through the first-half at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, Oladapo Afolayan was brought down on the edge of the Millers' penalty area but referee Geoff Eltringham ordered play to continue.

Evatt, who was booked for a fifth time this season in the immediate aftermath of the challenge, insists Afolayan would have been clean through on goal but for that challenge and says officials must improve when it comes to key moments such as that.

"It's so frustrating," Evatt told OfficialBWFC on YouTube. "I had an excellent view of it and Dapo has clearly got there first.

"The ball is running perfectly in his path to go through and score and he's clearly brought down.

"The explanation that I got was: 'Yes, your player got there first but there was football contact.'

"I don't know what football contact is or even means. To me it means my player got there first and was clearly brought down.

"That's why there's frustration. These big decisions against good teams have to be right and he didn't get them right today."

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