QPR boss Marti Cifuentes has his say on Koki Saito red card in Leeds United draw
Saito, who opened the scoring against the Championship leaders at Loftus Road, was shown a red card by referee Tim Robinson for a challenge on Leeds winger Daniel James in second-half stoppage time.
Cifuentes appeared frustrated by the decision as he stood with Saito’s planned replacement Daniel Bennie in his technical area.
“I’ve not seen the replay yet,” said the QPR boss. “I felt it was a bit harsh [at the time]. It (the challenge) was not that far from me.
“I spoke with the referee, he had a better view than me and was convinced about it and I have full respect always for the decisions that they make.
“I’m just sad because Koki is such a nice guy so I’m sure he didn’t intend to injure the player. I need to see a replay but I trust and respect the referee.
“It’s very unfortunate because we were planning to sub him and then he got the red card so Dan Bennie can’t jump in.
“I think Koki worked a lot in a difficult second half when we were a lot lower [on the pitch] than we wanted and we had the ball less than we wanted but he showed his quality with the goal.
“He needs to keep working and improving out of possession because there are areas that can improve but the work ethic is there.”
Saito’s early strike was followed by a Steve Cook header as Rangers raced in to a two-goal lead against Daniel Farke’s side. A Morgan Fox own goal before half-time and a close-range finish from Jayden Bogle after the break restored parity.
Defender Cook could be seen remonstrating with the referee’s assistant following the Fox own goal, however, when asked about the situation, Cifuentes was keen to focus on the resilience his side showed to earn a point.
“I’ve not seen it again,” he said. “Of course no one was happy because it was more about the moment.
“It was very important to keep the lead and keep the advantage and then try to adjust a couple of things.
“One image that says a lot about this group is after we got the red card we were able to build a counter with ten men in the 95th minute after a long trip to Middlesborough [on Tuesday] and that says a lot about what type of team we have.
“We’re trying. Sometimes we do better and sometimes we are not having our best day. But this is an honest group and today was a good demonstration of that.”
PICTURE: ALAMY