Morgan protests innocence in penalty row
Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan is adamant he made no contact with Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard as the new Barclays Premiership season kicked off in controversial fashion.
The curtain-raising 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane was marred when Morgan was adjudged by referee Rob Styles to have clipped Gerrard in the penalty area, resulting in Robbie Fowler stroking home the 70th-minute equaliser from the spot.
Blades manager Neil Warnock later insisted there was no contact, with Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez believing Gerrard’s word and asserting there was.
Hampshire official Styles obviously felt his assessment was correct, but not according to Morgan, who perhaps should have been sent off into the bargain as he was also last man.
“I didn’t think it was a penalty, and it’s proved on television that it doesn’t look like a penalty,” said 28-year-old centre-back Morgan.
“I made no contact. I didn’t think anybody appealed at the time, and to my way of thinking if it was a penalty why didn’t he (Gerrard) go down straight away?
“But at the end of the day the ref has given it and it has finished up 1-1. These things happen. It has gone now, and in the end we’re happy with a point, although we were unlucky not to get a win.”
United more than held their own against the Reds, and were worthy of a point for their industry and organisation against a team many feel are serious title contenders this season.
After new £2.2m (€3.2m) summer signing Rob Hulse had given United the lead just 52 seconds after the interval, to then miss out on all three points left Morgan feeling “hard done by”.
“We were 1-0 up at home in the first game of the Premiership season against the former European champions,” added Morgan on BBC Radio Sheffield.
“We were all working hard, so to end up drawing to a dodgy penalty, you’re going to be gutted. But we’re off to a good start. It could have been a lot, lot better, but we can take a lot of pride from the way we played against a team being spoken about as potential league winners.
“We’ll take confidence from this, keep going, keep working hard and see where it takes us.”
The visitors appeared to lack cohesion in the first half, and while Benitez rightly admitted they improved after the break, the Spaniard knows more is needed if they are to challenge champions Chelsea.
“The title race is a long one, we are talking about a marathon,” said Benitez. “People can say we gained a point, or lost two. I don’t know, but at the end of the day you cannot change the situation.
“We need to analyse the mistakes and try to improve because we didn’t do the right things in the first half, but we did in the second.
“I don’t understand why we couldn’t control the game in the first like we did in the second. But with all the important games we have, it’s difficult to play as you always want.
“But in the second half we were more positive, as you should be, had better ideas and moved the ball much better. We will see if we can do the same in the next away game.”
That is against Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday in the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round clash, with the game being played on neutral territory in Kiev.
Unfortunately for Benitez he is without Jamie Carragher, and almost certainly John Arne Riise, after both sustained ankle injuries.
