Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel bemoaned the penalty decision which gave Sunderland the lead before they went on to win 4-2 at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.
Ethan Pinnock was judged to have fouled Aiden McGeady in the 18th minute, with the penalty being slotted followed by two more goals in the next 14 minutes.
Reds head coach Stendel said: “I think everyone who watched the penalty on video can see it was not a penalty. The referee was ten metres away and normally he can see that. It was not the right decision. We didn’t defend well but if it had only been 2-0 we might have had more of a chance.”
Stendel bemoaned his side’s performance in the first third of the match but was impressed with their fightback as Kieffer Moore’s brace made it 3-2 before the hosts netted late on on the break.
“In the first 35 minutes we were not here, but after that we played very well. We were so much better than Sunderland but the problem was we were 3-0 down. I told my squad at half-time that we can lose to Sunderland because they are very good and very experienced but I wanted to see us play as team I the second half and be brave. We saw the result of that in the second half.
“Sunderland is a big club and maybe our players were a bit too impressed in the first 30 minutes. When you want to win at Sunderland you need to play two good halves not just one.”
