Charlie Austin branded the decision to disallow his goal “a joke” and accused the officials of costing Southampton two points. Striker Austin looked to have doubled Saints’ one-goal advantage against Watford with 24 minutes remaining at St Mary’s when he fired home Nathan Redmond’s cut-back.
But, as he celebrated with team-mates on the touchline, the strike was ruled out by referee Simon Hooper because Maya Yoshida – who did not touch the ball – was standing in an offside position.
Hornets defender Jose Holebas subsequently levelled the game late on following Manolo Gabbiadini’s first-half opener and Austin did not hold back after the match. “It’s ridiculous, they (Watford) shouldn’t be in the game,” Austin said in a post-match broadcast interview.
“We score a perfectly good goal, make it 2-0, game’s done and dusted. “The officials cost us two points today. It’s a joke. We go on about VAR (video assistant referee) this, VAR that – help the officials out, clearly they need help.
“We play in the Premier League, the best league in the world, the most-watched league in the world, give them all the help they need because clearly they cost us two points today. It’s a joke. “We deserved three points today, but we’ve been let down by the officials and that’s why we didn’t get three points.”
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