Southampton manager Mark Hughes has launched a scathing attack on referee Jon Moss following his side's 1-1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park this evening.
The Saints were on course to move two points clear of danger with two games remaining courtesy of Nathan Redmond's goal, but the winger was then controversially penalised for a foul in stoppage time, with the free kick leading to Everton's last-gasp equaliser.
Tom Davies's deflected strike came in the sixth minute of injury time despite only four being signalled, while Southampton had already been reduced to 10 men at that stage when Maya Yoshida picked up a second yellow card.
"Unfortunately the officials towards the end of the game haven't covered themselves in glory if we are honest. Nathan Redmond is in the corner and has done a fantastic job to nick the ball off the toes of their centre-half. The assistant referee is about two or three yards away and clearly sees it isn't a foul but Jon Moss, as he usually is, about 30 yards behind play, decided to give a free kick," Hughes told reporters.
"To compound that situation he allows them to take it from the wrong position, 10 to 15 yards ahead, and at that point we are still arguing about whether it should have been a free run on goal for ourselves. It was difficult to get our shape back, we'd lost a man to a sending-off, and in the end, with hindsight, as a consequence of being down to 10 men we got tired and made the wrong decisions.
"Ryan Bertrand tried to take the ball further up the pitch, got cut out and they get a shot off which gets deflected. We are just disappointed with the performances of the officials because it has had a direct impact on us. Second [yellow card] it was a mistimed tackle and there was a likelihood, considering it was Jon Moss, he would give a red card. It was hard on us because clearly we were going to see the game out quite comfortably in my view.
"Having the sending-off and then referees not doing their job happens too often. Before games we shouldn't, as management teams, worry about which referees we have got, but it happens too often and that's what everyone does: you worry about the referees being strong enough, worry about them playing a direct part in getting key decisions correct or incorrect. You shouldn't have to worry about it. They should be the best and unfortunately they are not."
When asked whether he had spoken to Moss, Hughes replied: "What's the point? He's probably getting his breath back."
Southampton now sit in 17th place, level on points with 18th-placed Swansea City, whom they will face on Tuesday night.
Barney Corkhill
