Western United head coach John Aloisi was left dismayed by a “blatant” penalty that was not awarded in Saturday night’s defeat at Adelaide United.
Adelaide continued their unbeaten start to the Isuzu UTE A-League season courtesy of a 2-1 victory, though it was not without controversy after visiting Western United were denied a penalty in the second half.
“I think everyone saw it was a blatant penalty,” Aloisi told Paramount+ afterwards as Western were left with two points from four games heading into the international break. “Blatant, blatant.
“I was a striker and I know, every time I played and someone went behind like that, they would give a penalty.
“I don’t know how the referee first missed it and but then VAR missed it. That changes the game because we go 2-1 up and I think we hold on.
“It’s disappointing, it really is. There were other decisions I didn’t feel were going our way as well and when you’re at Coopers, you need some of those decisions to go your way.
Aloisi added: “If you have VAR, use it for the right reasons and the right reason was to give that a penalty. It was a clear penalty. I don’t get it.”
A-Leagues great and Paramount+ analyst Daniel McBreen also had his say on the penalty controversy in the aftermath of the Round 4 fixture.
“We’re almost at a loss for words that it’s not given,” said the former Central Coast Mariners striker.
“He (Kitto) is lunging into the line of Walatee as he goes to kick the ball and clearly affects him as he is going to tap the ball into the net.
“I think if you put a poll out, everyone would say it’s a penalty.”
