Keith Hackett accuses ‘guilty’ Bristol City star of cheating v West Brom
Bristol City’s George Tanner has been accused of trying to cheat the officials in West Brom’s 2-1 defeat at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night.
Haydon Roberts’ goal in the 96th minute of the game won all three points for the Robins as they dealt a major blow to West Brom’s hopes of finishing in the Championship play-offs.
Nahki Wells put Bristol ahead in the 56th minute before Alex Mowatt capitalised on a defensive mix-up to score six minutes later.
Jayson Molumby was sent off in the 89th minute for serious foul play before Roberts’ winner. However, a few minutes before the Irish midfielder’s red card, Bristol City players and fans thought they should have had a penalty.
Keith Hackett reacts to Callum Styles penalty incident
With five minutes left to play, 22 men still on the pitch and the scores level, 25-year-old full-back Tanner went down in the penalty area after a challenge by Callum Styles.
Kyle Bartley put the West Brom defence under huge pressure when his half-soaked effort to clear the ball was pretty much passed to Tanner on the edge of the box.
Hungary international Styles was quick to react to Tanner winning possession and made a challenge. However, Tanner’s touch was heavy and as soon as he realised Styles was trying to tackle him, he went down to the ground.
| Callum Styles’ stats v Bristol City | |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Pass completion | 27/37 (73%) |
| Chances created | 0 |
| Passes into final third | 4 |
| Tackles won | 2/2 (100%) |
| Duels won | 6/9 (67%) |
Keith Hackett believes the former Manchester United player made a meal of Styles’ challenge and that referee Matt Donohue should have booked him.
“This is a clear act of simulation,” Hackett told West Brom News.
“The referee made the right judgment that it was not a foul.
“On the negative, I would have liked him to reinforce his decision by yellow carding the player who was guilty of an act of simulation.”
West Brom promotion bid over
Tony Mowbray’s men are now three points behind sixth-placed Middlesbrough after dropping down to eighth place in the Championship in recent days.
Albion have now won just eight of their last 35 league matches and the only reason they’ve remained so high in the table is largely down to how well the team did at the start of the season under Carlos Corberan.