Malaga fume at officials after Valencia defeat
Reuters - Sunday 23 January 2011, 00:50
MADRID - Malaga were furious
with referee Antonio Rubinos Perez after he sent off two of
their players and coach Manuel Pellegrini in a dramatic 4-3
defeat at Valencia in La Liga on Saturday.
Malaga central defenders Martin Demichelis and Helder
Rosario were shown the red card in the 16th and 65th minutes at
Mestalla, and Chilean Pellegrini was sent from the dugout eight
minutes from time.
The former Real Madrid and Villarreal boss missed Valencia's
last-minute winner from Aritz Aduriz, having watched his side
lead twice in the first half with goals from Jose Rondon.
Despite being down to nine men they scored in the 80th
minute through Julio Baptista to make it 3-3 before conceding
the late goal.
"I've never seen a refereeing performance like this in Spain
before," the normally stoic Pellegrini told reporters.
"I don't want to add any more. Spanish football is already
in flames about how to do it and I'm not going to go into
details about the performance."
Malaga, who were bought by a member of the Qatar royal
family last summer, have been La Liga's most active club in the
January transfer market and were the better side even after
Demichelis was sent off.
The Argentine was shown a straight red card for tripping
Juan Mata in the area when he was clear through on goal, though
Pellegrini claimed the Spanish winger was offside.
Referee Rubinos Perez said Portuguese Rosario was shown a
straight red card for making a rude gesture at the linesman, and
Pellegrini was sent off for entering the field of play and for
persistent complaining about his decisions.
The referee added in his match report that as he and his
team made their way to the changing rooms they were accosted by
players and members of the Malaga coaching staff, who directed
insults at them.
The result left Malaga 16th in the standings, a point above
the relegation zone with 17 points from 20 games.