Portsmouth FC: John Mousinho fumes at costly Blackburn Rovers decision | OneFootball

John Mousinho was unhappy with referee Farai Hallam's performance on Wednesday evening.

John Mousinho has revealed his frustration at the referee after Faria Hallam's decision not to award Portsmouth a penalty saw Blackburn Rovers go up the other end and score to make it 2-0 in last night's Championship clash at Ewood Park.

In what was a tight affair, the deadlock was broken after 61 minutes when Callum Brittain's searching cross found the head of Makhtar Gueye, who finished powerfully past Nicolas Schmid.

Pompey then went in search of an equaliser, and Mousinho believed they would have the perfect opportunity when Aynsley Pears collided with Callum Lang in the box. However, despite Mousinho asserting that the linesman had raised his flag, the referee overruled his assistant and allowed play to continue.

This saw Rovers escape to the other end and to match his earlier assist, Brittain rifled home an emphatic shot to make it 2-0.

A few minutes later, Andreas Weimann put the icing on the cake as he followed in Gueye's effort to secure a crucial 3-0 victory and condemn Pompey to a sixth-consecutive away defeat.

John Mousinho unhappy with refereeing decisions

Speaking to The News post-match, Mousinho expressed his disappointment about the decision not to award his side a penalty.

"You probably saw from my reaction, I knew it was a penalty at the time," said the Pompey boss.

"Pears comes out, Callum Lang gets the ball ahead of him - and Pears just takes him out. I can’t understand why it’s not given. I’ve just spoken to the referee and had his explanation, I’m not happy with it.

"I go in and speak to referees after games and most of the time give them honest feedback and qualify anything I say, such as by no means was it the referee's fault that we lost or they didn’t have an influence over the result.

"That wasn’t the case today - the referee’s decision did cost us the game.

"The linesman indicated a penalty to the referee and the referee took control of the situation. Normally, I wouldn't have an issue with that, but we have had two penalties now this season - Stoke away and Watford away - where the linesman has given both decisions.

"The referee said Lang got the ball first, Pears then takes him out - but it was a coming together. Well that’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a foul in the box, it's a penalty 100 per cent of the time.

"If the penalty gets given there’s no way anybody complains and says 'Oh it’s just a coming together'. They accept a penalty and get on with it.

"I don’t want to labour the point too much, I think everyone knows it was a mistake. Yet it’s a double whammy because Blackburn go straight up the other end and score."

Portsmouth are in deep trouble

To compound Portsmouth's frustration, Blackburn manager John Eustace spoke after the match and supported Mousinho's stance, agreeing that a penalty should have been awarded for Pears' foul.

When you're at the foot of the table, these are the kinds of decisions that need to go your way, and converting the potential penalty might have allowed them to salvage something from the game.

However, that match is now behind them, and Mousinho's side face a challenging run of fixtures as they look to escape the relegation zone.