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Leeds duo charged over 'pressure on referee' at half-time

  /  autty

Leeds United's director of football Victor Orta and head of communications James Mooney have been charged by the FA for misconduct.

The charge is relating to separate incidents involving referee Darren England at half-time on Tuesday night in their match against Millwall.

Both Orta and Mooney have accepted the charges after reportedly 'putting pressure' on the official.

During the first half, Leeds took an early blow when Shaun Hutchinson gave Millwall the lead inside four minutes.

Minutes later, a Leeds attack saw them force a save from Bartosz Białkowski in the visitors goal but England pointed for a goal kick instead of a corner kick. Leeds players protested the clear and obvious error.

In the 23rd minute, Millwall were awarded a penalty - rightfully - after a tackle from Ezgjan Alioski. However, it appeared in the build-up that the ball had gone out of play for a Leeds throw. The spot kick was converted by Jed Wallace and Leeds had a mountain to climb.

In the second half, Marcelo Bielsa's side pulled off a miraculous comeback as Patrick Bamford netted twice and Pablo Hernandez scored to finish the match 3-2.

However, opposing manager Gary Rowett hinted that ref Darren England was subject to 'pressure' at half-time by non coaching and playing staff that could have had an affect on the result, but refrained to give exact details.

Rowett explained: 'I thought it was a difficult game for different reasons. There was a little bit of pressure on him at half-time. I won't go into too much detail on that and the fans put him under pressure because that's what they do here. It wasn't any of the coaching or playing staff, put it that way.

'We do the same at home. It's what it is. It was a difficult game to referee and in the first half we might've had our rub of the green. In the second half they certainly got the big decisions.'

Millwall were denied a potential penalty in the final minutes of the match, but Rowett admitted both sides had 'the rub of the green' during the tie.

'First half we might have had our rub of the green in terms of one or two decisions. Second half you could say they certainly got a lot of the decisions,' said the Millwall boss.

He added: 'At the end it should have been a penalty, but like I said, you're going to be a brave referee to give that in the 90th minute.'