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Strategist Sir Alex Ferguson called the referee's decision to award a penalty kick to his team's goal a "farce".
On Saturday, in the English championship match, the country's champions were unable to defeat "Newcastle" at home - the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The away team scored the equalizing goal from the penalty spot, when the linesman saw a questionable foul by Rio Ferdinand against Hatem Ben Arfa.
"The field referee wanted to give a corner kick and was much closer to the scene of the incident," said Ferguson. "What happened afterwards is a farce. I don't think anyone in the stadium, except the assistant, thought it was a foul."
"Newcastle" strategist Alan Pardew also agreed: "The attempt to obstruct the opponent was risky, but he definitely hit the ball. If the decision had been against my team, I would have been very unhappy. We were lucky."
The episode when the penalty was awarded:
