A furious Roy Hodgson raged at the crude challenge from Amkar Perm defender Dmitry Belorukov that could keep Fulham forward Andy Johnson out for two months.
The England international has a suspected broken collarbone after being brutally bodychecked by the Bulgarian defender midway through the second half. Hodgson was angered by the fact that the sanction was just a yellow card, telling his post-match press conference:
“The opponent quite cold-bloodedly smashed into him. I’m tempted to say I’d prefer to have lost and have no injury to Johnson. “I don’t think things like that should happen in football – not without punishment.
“A yellow card is the same punishment as Clint Dempsey received when the ball accidentally struck him on the arm… Andy Johnson was literally banjoed out of the game by a player who made no attempt to win the ball. Uefa and Fifa are constantly trying to stop serious foul play. Obviously it’s not working, because it’s not being stopped.”
