Kinnear furious at 'Mickey Mouse ref'
Fulham 2 Newcastle United 1
Newcastle interim boss Joe Kinnear branded official Martin Atkinson "a Mickey Mouse ref" after Fulham climbed from 18th to 10th in the Premier League in the space of 90 wind and rain-swept minutes yesterday.
It was a bizarre comment and one sure to attract the attentions of the men at Soho Square. A week earlier, Atkinson received the wrath of Roy Keane, who is now facing a charge from the FA for misconduct. Kinnear could face similar action after his comments about Atkinson and the general standard of refereeing after his side suffered only their second defeat in six games.
"If we'd had a proper referee we'd have come away with something," said Kinnear, who was referring to an incident in the build-up to the winning goal. Kinnear was livid that Andy Johnson, on his way to winning a penalty, seemed to push Claudio Cacapa.
Innocuous
It appeared innocuous but Kinnear added: "It was what happened before, not the penalty itself. Johnson completely pushes Cacapa out of the way, nicks the ball and gets the penalty and we've got a Mickey Mouse ref doing nothing. That's the standard of refereeing in this country. You can count the ones you want to respect on one hand."
Kinnear's complaints clouded Fulham's deserved victory, earned by Johnson, who, according to his manager, did not harm his hopes of an England recall.
Fulham were more adventurous and went close when Zoltan Gera's header, from a Jimmy Bullard corner, was cleared from the goal-line by Jose Enrique, before Fulham deservedly took a 24th-minute lead.
Bullard's cross was met by Cacapa -- in for the injured Steven Taylor -- but he directed the ball into the back of fellow defender Fabricio Coloccini. It fell invitingly to Johnson, who finished with style.
Before the interval Newcastle almost levelled when Damien Duff hit the post and the visitors equalised in the 57th minute when Shola Ameobi swept in a Duff cross from close range.
But Fulham regained the lead when Coloccini lapsed again, bringing down Johnson as he chased a long ball from Clint Dempsey, and Danny Murphy converted the resulting spot-kick for his 100th league goal. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- John Ley
