Dean Smith criticises ‘scandalous’ penalty decision as Norwich draw with Wigan

Norwich manager Dean Smith felt referee Matthew Donohue missed a clear penalty and red card towards the end of his side’s frustrating 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw with Wigan at Carrow Road.

Max Aarons was taken out by a strong challenge from Tom Naylor as he went looking for his second goal of the game, having got the hosts back on level terms on the hour mark.

Naylor got the ball but Smith felt the challenge was overzealous and should been punished by the official.

“The referee was looking straight down the barrel of that one and the fact that he doesn’t see it worries me, ” said the City boss.

“To me it was a scandalous decision – the fact that Max has got a nasty gash on his shin tells you everything you need to know. It was a horrendous challenge.

“I’ll tell you something, you wouldn’t even have got away with something like that in my playing days when referees were a lot more lenient. You couldn’t go over the top like that. It should have been a red card and a penalty.”

Smith felt his side more than deserved to win the game, adding: “I think it’s one point gained for them and two points lost for us.

“We pegged them back for long periods and had the better chances. We had 22 attempts and gifted them their two chances by our mistakes. If we had played like that against Cardiff last week (when they lost 1-0) I think we would have won by three or four.

“For the first 30 minutes we were relentless and after dropping a bit at the end of the half we were back on it in the second. I can’t fault the application and attitude of the lads – they are gutted in the dressing room not to have taken all three points.”

Playing at home for the first time since last season’s dismal Premier League campaign, Norwich dominated for long