O´Neill, Jol mull over penalty decisions

Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill criticised referee Mark Halsey after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.

Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill criticised referee Mark Halsey after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.

Sunderland came from two goals down to clinch a share of the spoils at the Stadium of Light in a match clouded by controversy.

Dimitar Berbatov put Fulham in front early on after Ashkan Dejagah took a delayed tumble over Craig Gardner’s leg to earn a penalty.

“At that point I thought the referee was going to book their player for simulation,” O’Neill said.

“But that said we still got caught in the midst of it all and we then found ourselves two goals behind.

“It was important to get a goal before half time and we managed to do that. We piled pressure on them and I think we deserved to take a point.”

O’Neill believes his side were denied a late penalty when Phillipe Senderos appeared to handle the ball in the area.

“There was the chance we were going to get a third goal but unfortunately it didn’t transpire,” he said.

“I thought it was a clear penalty at the end of the game, Senderos handled the ball.

“We suffered last week two similar incidents – one given against us and one not given for us.

“It was a big moment in the game today and there needs to be consistency.”

Meanwhile, Fulham manager Martin Jol was frustrated by the penalty that led to Sunderland’s opening goal.

Senderos was adjudged to have pulled back Danny Graham in the box, with Craig Gardner scoring the resultant penalty.

“I still feel that the penalty situation was soft – that sort of thing happens a lot of times – there was a little bit of contact but it was never a penalty kick,” Jol said.