Crystal Palace boss left puzzled by referee’s decision to rule out Eze’s free-kick in Brentford defeat

Oliver Glasner admitted he was surprised referee Sam Barrott ruled out Eberechi Eze’s stunning free-kick in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat at Brentford on Sunday afternoon.

Greenwich-born Eze thought he had given Palace the lead midway through the first half with a wonderful free-kick that caught out Brentford stopper Mark Flekken.

However, Barrott ruled the goal out for an infringement inside the area, with Will Hughes and Nathan Collins coming together.

Bryan Mbeumo put the Bees ahead in the 29th minute when he broke away on a counter-attack and squared up to Marc Guehi before curling a shot beyond Dean Henderson inside the area.

Palace drew the game level when Daniel Munoz met Tyrick Mitchell’s cross at the back post and forced Ethan Pinnock to turn the ball past Mark Flekken.

Brentford reclaimed the lead and sealed the game in the 76th minute when Yoane Wissa was on hand to turn home a shot after Nathan Collins’ effort was saved by Dean Henderson.

“I think everybody was surprised that the referee blew his whistle so early, but I don’t complain about it because the decision was already made.

“In this moment, he took the decision. We thought it was a goal, but the rules are that when the ball is in the game and the referee blows his whistle, then it doesn’t count.

“It is how it is. We had many other situations where we couldn’t have taken the lead in the first half, but we didn’t.

“There were many situations where we thought we could have a finish or a chance, but we missed the right moment. We did it better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough today.”

Eze revealed to Match of the Day after the game that referee Barrott admitted to the England attacker that he made a mistake.

Glasner added: “It shows that the referee is a good character and a good guy.

“You can always find excuses or tell the players it is part of the game to make mistakes.

“I made mistakes today as well. It shows he is a great man to say he made a mistake.

“But it doesn’t change anything.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD