‘A harsh decision’ – Gareth Southgate bemoans penalty decision but admits England lacked cutting edge in Hungary defeat

Gareth Southgate accepts England did not do enough to win their Nations League opener against Hungary but bemoaned the penalty decision that saw his side fall to defeat.

The Three Lions suffered a disappointing loss in Budapest with a second-half penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai sealing victory for the hosts.

Reece James was judged to have fouled Zsolt Nagy with the referee pointing to the spot without consulting VAR.

The call was deemed harsh by former England international Michael Owen and current Lionesses star Jordan Nobbs with Southgate unhappy with the decision.

But the England boss admitted his side lacked their own cutting edge on the night with Hungary creating chances to extend their lead.

‘We have to accept we didn’t do enough to win the game,’ Southgate told Channel 4.

‘A draw would have been a fair outcome, we had enough possession but we weren’t incisive enough around the box and didn’t create enough clear cut chances.

‘The actual result hinges on a decision which I think is harsh, but probably wasn’t going to be overturned.’

On the penalty incident, Southgate continued. ‘I think it’s harsh. You see challenges like that in the box where he has just gone across to get his body between him and the ball and the forward just makes a meal of it.

‘But away from home, sometimes you are going to get those calls.’

The fixture was scheduled to take place behind closed doors as a punishment for racist and homophobic behaviour by Hungary’s fans – with England players targeted during their previous visit to the city last year.

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