Chris Wilder's passionate verdict on Hamza Choudhury red card v Portsmouth after Sheffield United heartbreak
Chris Wilder was left frustrated by Oliver Langford’s decision to send off Hamza Choudhury as Sheffield United fought back from two goals down before suffering a cruel late defeat at Portsmouth.
Chris Wilder was left understandably frustrated by the controversial decision to send off Hamza Choudhury as Sheffield United slipped to a cruel late defeat away at Portsmouth tonight. The Blades had fought back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2.
But there was another sting in the tale as Ebou Adams came off the bench to score the winner in the 89th minute and deny United what would have been a brilliant point in the circumstances.
There was nothing between the two sides in a frantic first half before, within a spell of about five minutes, Pompey went ahead and United were reduced to 10 men.
Choudhury was adjudged to have twice fouled Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, with the second decision a lot more contentious than the first. The Chelsea youngster had nutmegged Choudhury before running into the United man and going down.
Wilder said that referee Oliver Langford initially told Choudhury he wasn’t about to be sent off, before changing his mind and pulling the second yellow from his pocket.
“Where can Hamza go?” Wilder said afterwards. “Is it Mr Claypole [the disappearing jester from Rentaghost] who just disappears? There are actions like that all over the pitch. Sam McCallum got blocked three or four times.
“I just don't know where Hamza's meant to go and I have to be super careful because maybe what I might want to say, I don't say. Even at the last minute of the game, one of our boys gets tugged in the area and you can see the shirt coming off his back.
“And a week ago, West Ham v QPR, West Ham get a penalty in the 93rd minute. And I spoke to the fourth official and I said: ‘Did he pull his shirt?’ And he went: ‘Yeah, he pulled his shirt.’
“So is there a little pull, a medium pull or a big pull? But that was just one of a number of decisions that incredibly frustrated me.
“And then the chat was that he wasn't going to send him off. And I get opposition players going over; gamesmanship is part of the game. But we feel a little bit hard done by.”