The Wellington Phoenix have been left to wonder what might have been following some questionable refereeing in their second annual Waitangi Day fixture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Phoenix have been held to a 1-1 draw by Brisbane Roar at Sky Stadium after three contentious decisions went against them in the first half.
The Nix had a goal overturned by the Video Assistant Referee and for the second match in succession were denied two penalties, the second of which appeared to be clear cut when Hideki Ishige was brought down in the Brisbane box.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was reluctant to criticise the officials when he spoke to media post-match.
\u201cI\u2019ve got nothing to say really about the penalty,\u201d Italiano said.
\u201cI think what they\u2019re looking for at that moment is recklessness in the challenge and the only way you establish that is if he swings through with no intention to win the ball. That\u2019s reckless, it\u2019s a pen and I didn\u2019t see that.
\u201cIf he had put studs up and hit him, it doesn\u2019t matter where the touch is, that\u2019s a foul anywhere on the park, but it\u2019s very hard to make a case.
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen the footage again but that was my go when I first saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n