A dejected Mohammedan Sporting coach Mohammed Habib on Sunday blamed "poor match supervision" and inept finishing by his forwards for his team's 0-1 loss to Mahindra United in the Tata Federation Cup final on Saturday night.
"We were denied two clear penalties. I couldn't believe my eyes when the referee did not award us a spot kick in the first half after Arun Malhotra brought down Bungo Singh inside the box," Habib said.
The Sporting coach complained that the referee, S Suresh of Tamil Nadu, also turned a blind eye when Dipendu Biswas was repeatedly subjected to unfair tackles by Mahindra rearguards whenever he closed in on the danger zone.
"On the other hand, Mahindra striker Raphael Patron continuously elbowed my defenders but the referee looked the other way," said Habib.
Habib also pulled up the Sporting forwards for missing several sitters. "The way the match went, a 3-1 scoreline in our favour would have been the apt result," he said.