Golden Arrows coach Vusumuzi Vilakazi says the referee apologised to him after the 3-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Pirates looked to have secured a point in Orlando when substitute Velemseni Ndwandwe netted with his first touch of the game to cancel out Monnapule Saleng’s opener.
But in stoppage time, the Buccaneers netted two late goals through Terrence Dzvukamanja and Vincent Pule, but the Zimbabwean’s goal came into question.
Arrows players were incensed and surrounded the referee as they felt Saleng fouled Makhubela before cross the ball to make it 2-1 and Vilakazi was visibly riled up at full-time.
“I’ll be honest to you, I went to the referee, I approached the referee nicely, I was not fighting and I asked him about the incident and he apologised to me,” Vilakazi stated at Orlando Stadium after the game.
“It was unfortunate that we lost the game in that moment, he apologised and I even spoke to the linesman, he said there’s nothing we can do – I even asked why do you communicate.
“If the linesman sees something, he must communicate to the referee, but if it’s something that didn’t happen, it’s fine, water under the bridge, he accepted he made a mistake, Makhubela was fouled.”
Arrows dropped to 12th in the league and now turn their attention to the KwaZulu Natal Derby against Maritzburg United this weekend at the Princess Magogo Stadium.
