Birmingham City were left fuming after a controversial goal by Southampton’s Cameron Archer denied them victory at St Andrew’s. Archer’s strike, 19 minutes from time, secured a draw that many Blues felt was unfair.
The source of the controversy centered around the build-up to the goal. Referee Matthew Donohue appeared to obstruct Birmingham’s Tomoki Iwata as he aimed to regain possession in midfield. This interference allowed Southampton to continue their attack uninterrupted, culminating in Archer poking the ball past Birmingham goalkeeper James Beadle.
Blues’ manager Chris Davies was visibly incensed, confronting Donohue from the touchline before being booked for dissent. His frustration boiled over moments later, resulting in a red card for throwing the ball away in protest.
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The key explanation lies in the laws of the game. Referees are considered part of the field of play. However, if a referee deliberately interferes by touching the ball or impeding a player’s progress, the game should be stopped and restarted with a drop ball awarded to the team that had possession.
In this case, Donohue’s positioning inadvertently made him part of the play, but he judged the contact with Iwata as insufficient to halt the game. This decision sparked outrage from Birmingham’s bench, who believed the obstruction directly impacted the outcome.
Ben Petty, Birmingham’s assistant manager who spoke after the match due to Davies’ red card, acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. “From where I was, and I haven’t got great eyesight, it’s a really difficult one because I felt Tomoki got obstructed by the referee and the referee obviously decided that he didn’t impact him enough to stop the play,” Petty explained.
He added, “Unfortunately, they have scored. I would like to think Tomoki would have intercepted the ball and we would have gone down the other end. The referee is human. He’s made the decision what he thinks is correct and we have to stand by that, as frustrating as it is.”
Despite the controversy, no official clarification was provided by the referee, though Birmingham were invited to discuss the incident post-match.