Stoke boss Narcis Pelach frustrated with referee's 'bad decision' that led to Middlesbrough goal
Stoke City boss Narcis Pelach felt his Stoke City side were harshly done to at the Riverside, with Middlesbrough's important first goal coming from what he described as a 'bad decision' from referee Stephen Martin.
Liverpool loanee Ben Doak put Boro into the lead just after the half-hour mark after an interesting start to the game at the Riverside. Stoke had shown far more ambition than the majority of Boro's recent opponents, but Boro were beginning to gain a foothold in the game as Doak struck.
At the time, as Viktor Johansson could only push Riley McGree's curled effort into the 18-year-old's path, many Stoke players appealed for offside. Not given, Boro found themselves 1-0 up before being able to kill the game off in the second half thanks to Hayden Hackney's brilliant solo goal.
READ MORE: Other side of Middlesbrough's win earns Carrick praise with attacking play stealing headlines
SUBSCRIBE: Click here to subscribe to Teesside Live's Boro newsletter
But asked after about Boro's opener, it wasn't the offside that angered the Spaniard, but instead the build-up. Latte Lath chased back doggedly to stop a Stoke counter, winning a free-kick that he took quickly to set McGree away to have the effort that rebounded kindly to Doak.
"It's not a foul from Koumas," new Stoke boss Pelach said after. "This leads to the goal. It's a bad decision in my opinion. I don't want to talk about the referee every week but it's happened in my two games. Big moments can go one way or the other.
"If he doesn't whistle for the foul, it's a four vs two for us and lots of space in the transition and it's a big chance for us, if not a goal. It went the other way, and the players are complaining to the referee. I want them to be stronger mentally.”
With the help of that Doak goal, Boro picked up three big points at the Riverside. They were much improved on their two prior disappointing performances against Preston North End and Sunderland and were good value for their win, albeit with Stoke playing their part in a decent game overall.
"There are positive things," Pelach reflected. "I didn’t expect us to have 50-50 of the ball away at Middlesbrough. And we calmed the stadium down by having passes, but I am not happy with just this. We have to be more clinical in the boxes.
"We are building, changing things fast. The fans are right to say what they feel. They want to see us winning, fighting and scoring goals. I understand the frustrations and we have to focus on the things we can control. I'm disappointed with the result and performance. We have to be much more aggressive defensively and offensively.
"I can see the team organised in one phase or another but then it's about doing more runs, crosses, shots. It was a step in the right direction in terms of possession. The battle for possession was about 50/50 and we know Middlesbrough are a great side on that. Building towards the new style was good but we need to turn that into chances.
"We need to be more aggressive and create more chances. Defensively we were organised but need to be much more reliable in duals, second balls. Competitively I don't think we were there today and that's why I'm disappointed. Tactically, it's fine, we were okay, but we must be more aggressive. We didn't do enough to try to win the game."