Golden Arrows coach Clinton Larsen was left disillusioned by referee Olani Kwinda at the weekend and sarcastically suggested that the official should have been handed the man-of-the-match award after his team’s Absa Premiership defeat away at Highlands Park on Sunday.
Larsen called for better officiating when his Lamontville Golden Arrows host Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday.
Arrows went down 2-1 against the Lions of the North in Tembisa with Larsen slamming the decision to award a penalty‚ which led to the opening goal for Highlands.
“It was an ugly game. I thought the referee didn’t help matters as well. Maybe he got the man-of-the-match‚” said Larsen after the match.
“The penalty was soft in my opinion but honestly I don’t think we were good enough today to get anything out of this game.”
Larsen doesn’t have enough time to sharpen his Arrows troops for their next match‚ a daunting home fixture against Sundowns at Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu at 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Pitso Mosimane’s side have had a typically slow start to their season as continental commitments take their toll on the squad.
Sundowns have stuttered to just six points from a possible 12‚ while also crashing out of the MTN8 and the Caf Champions League in recent weeks.
The Brazilians had to come from behind to force a thrilling 3-3 away draw at AmaZulu in Umlazi‚ also on Sunday.
Asked whether it is the right time to play an off-the-boil Sundowns‚ Larsen said: “No‚ there’s no good time to play Sundowns.
“I think Sundowns is one of those teams that on a good day they will just wipe you off the park. On their bad day you need to do a lot of things right to get a result and maybe that’s what happened today [on Sunday against AmaZulu] maybe they missed a lot of chances.
“But there’s no good time to play them. I think their quality is for everyone to see.”
The Arrows coach said he hopes for a better performance from the referee against Sundowns to allow for free-flowing football.
“So like I said‚ a lot of things need to go in your favor against Sundowns and you need to play well. You also need the referee to have a good game too.”
Larsen said there were some obvious elements in the Sundowns backline that his team could expose.
“I think everybody knows that there’s a lack of pace in that Sundowns defence.
“So it will be up to us to expose that lack of pace at the back‚ but it’s one thing saying it and it’s another thing doing it on matchday.
“But you know even with that lack of pace the game intelligence of their back four is of a very high standard.
“The reading of their game is of a very high standard.
“So sometimes that makes up for the lack of pace in their legs.” — DDC..