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Middlesbrough chief Michael Carrick addresses controversial penalty call after Leeds United loss
Head coach Michael Carrick refused to criticise the match officials after watching his Middlesbrough side fall to a 3-1 defeat away to promotion rivals Leeds United this evening.
Moments after Wilfried Gnonto's 14th minute opener at Elland Road, the visitors had a strong penalty shout waved away when Joe Rodon appeared to bring down Rily McGree in the box. Sky Sports pundits Tommy Smith - a Boro player - and Michael Brown were both in agreement that referee Ben Toner should have pointed to the spot.
When quizzed on the flashpoint, Middlesbrough chief Carrick said: "I've not seen it to be honest so I don't know. At the time, we did claim for it but I've not seen it back."
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Boro restored parity after the break as Max Wober, deputising at left-back for the injured Junior Firpo, headed into his own net from Dan Barlaser's corner. Ben Doak wasted a glorious chance to put Carrick's team ahead but was denied by the agility of Ilian Meslier.
It proved a costly miss as United scored twice in the final quarter of the contest through Daniel James and Brenden Aaronson to move back to the top of the Championship. "We are bitterly disappointed," said Carrick. "I thought it was a decent game. We were right in it and we had some moments to create better chances at times.
"I'm proud of the boys for the effort and the way they went about it. We got on the front foot and you could feel the game was right there for us and we end up coming away with nothing.
"There is certainly enough for us to take from the last two games and the way we have gone about it moving forward. The boys showed a lot of personality, character and quality after we went behind."
Defeat means Middlesbrough have failed to win any of their past nine away league matches against Leeds (D3 L6), failing to score more than one goal in seven of those matches at Elland Road.
