Slaviša Jokanović described Neeskens Kebano’s disallowed goal as a “very expensive mistake” as Fulham needed a last-gasp Tom Cairney strike to rescue a point at home to Leeds United on Tuesday night.
The visitors had gone in front through a comical Tim Ream own goal, before Kebano fired in a stunning strike off the underside of the bar, only for the officials to rule it had not crossed the line.
And the Cottagers looked to be falling further behind in the race for the play-offs as a result, until Cairney popped up with a superb curling effort in the 94th minute to keep their dreams alive.
Jokanovic felt his side deserved all three points.
He said: “As we conceded one and scored two I believe we deserve three points.
“We had an accidental start, we scored an own goal then we scored a legal goal but the referee didn’t see this situation very well.
“I cannot complain about the referee. It’s a human error, you can make a mistake but it’s a very expensive mistake.
“And from my position I saw how the ball was moving, I was sure it was a legal goal. We checked after at half-time and it was a big mistake but that is part of the football too.
“I don’t know how to explain, I was sure the ball was past the line, and for some reason the assistant didn’t watch the situation very well.”
Jokanović was proud of how his players responded to the early own goal disaster though.
He added: “We played all the football, we moved from one side to the other side, we created many chances. We won only one point but I believe my team deserved three.”
“I am really proud of my team, how we played football, how we fought with confidence, how we defended with the Fulham press. My team was really competitive, and we found this kind of compensation in the last moment of the game.
“It’s important that we play with confidence, that we play with our style.
“In the end it’s an important goal, confidence is good and we keep going and push hard to keep fighting to be in the top-six.”
