Fulham boss Martin Jol blasted referee Martin Hansson for costing ten-man Fulham their unbeaten record in Group K. The Swedish referee sent off Moussa Dembele for a stupid but soft 30th-minute shove to the shoulder of Gervasio Nunez, who went down clutching his face.
David Biton then scored a 60th-minute winner for Wisla – who were lucky not to have Ivica Iliev sent off after barely a minute. But the home side did end a brutal game shorthanded as well when Osman Chavez received a second booking for a hack at Andy Johnson late on.
Fulham boss Jol thought Iliev’s offence – when the winger seemed to stamp on Brede Hangeland’s chest – was much worse.
He said: “We should have had a couple of decisions. In the first minute one of my players was kicked and it should have been a red. I was angry. I felt it was a bit harsh giving a red card to Moussa because if you see it, he pushed him in the shoulder.
“He made a meal of it. But that’s football nowadays. We felt hard done by. It was an awful night for us. The red card made such a difference. You shoudn’t raise your hands but we saw the same thing happen a couple of times.”
Hansson, who famously missed Thierry Henry’s handball against Ireland, might well have been swayed by Nunez’s theatrical reaction. Dembele now faces a two-match European ban and the defeat makes the Cottagers’ quest to qualify from Group K harder as they fell three points behind leaders Twente.
Biton’s 25 yard winner late on hardly improved Jol’s mood and a bad night got even worse when Orlando Sa limped off with a hamstring tear in the second half. “It could be a real problem,” said the Fulham boss. “It could be weeks.”
