Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak on Thursday added fuel to the fire surrounding his team’s controversial defeat to Chelsea by telling R-Sport that the referee and linesmen from the match should be punished for making mistakes.
Pogrebnyak scored Reading’s first goal in Wednesday's game, but the turning point came on 81 minutes, when Fernando Torres scored Chelsea’s third despite a clear offside.
“In England this case has received a lot of publicity and penalties for the refereeing staff should follow,” he said.
The offside goal could have been the result of a misguided attempt to let the game flow, he suggested.
“In England, referees often let [players] play, but unfortunately allow mistakes such as yesterday’s.”
Pogrebnyak spent the last four months of last season on loan at Fulham from German Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart before signing last month for Reading, owned by Russian businessman Anton Zingarevich.
Pogrebnyak has 33 caps for Russia and was recalled to the Russia squad Thursday after coach Fabio Capello dropped him for his first game in charge.
