English Premier League: Roy Hodgson questions referee in Crystal Palace loss to Wolves

London: Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said he was disappointed with referee Martin Atkinson after the official sent off midfielder Luka Milivojevic in Friday’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Palace skipper Milivojevic was dismissed in the 87th minute for a bad challenge on Wolves’ Joao Moutinho after the referee checked the pitchside monitor for serious foul play following the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

The sending off capped a frustrating evening for Palace, who had several VAR decisions go against them with a Michy Batshuayi goal disallowed and a penalty award overturned, both for offside.

“My view is it’s not a sending off and I’ve told Martin Atkinson that,” Hodgson told the BBC.

“He thinks there was a reason to give a red card but I’ve seen it as well and I certainly don’t agree with that. It was a fair challenge and there was no intent to contact Moutinho.

“I’m disappointed with that one. It’s the worst part of the evening in a way. There would have been positives to take, but to lose a player for three games for a challenge I didn’t even consider a foul will be hard to take.”

Hodgson told a news conference later that the club would appeal the decision.

Victory thanks to goals from on-loan teenage wingback Rayan Ait-Nouri and Daniel Podence lifted Wolves to third in the table with 13 points from seven games. Palace dropped to ninth with 10 points after their third defeat this season.