Leeds United defender Stuart Dallas has criticised referee Tim Robinson for his decision to award Fulham a penalty during their 2-1 win over Leeds on Saturday.

With just six minutes gone in the game, Robinson pointed to the spot after Leeds defender Ben White was adjudged to have pushed Fulham attacker Bobby Reid in the back as the pair competed to win a cross in the air.

Aleksandar Mitrovic stepped up and converted the resulting penalty to give Fulham the lead, which they would hold until Patrick Bamford equalised for Leeds ten minutes into the second half.

That would not be enough for Marcelo Bielsa's side to take anything from Craven Cottage however, with Josh Onomah scoring his first goal for Fulham with 20 minutes remaining to seal all three points for the hosts.

Speaking after the game about that decision to award Fulham that early penalty, Dallas told BBC Radio Yorkshire: “I don't know what the referee has seen really.

“It's easy to come out here and blame somebody else, but I don't know what he's seen."

Discussing how that decision impacted on his side in comparison to their performance throughout the course of the match, Dallas continued: “The rest of the half, we have done well, we have come back into the game and we have had a few chances – pretty even first half.

"And then in the second half, we have got our goal and it turned into a bit of a basketball game. We have conceded from a set-piece which is disappointing because we have worked really hard on that.

“It's not a penalty. It's not a penalty. I can take the easy option and blame the referee. He has a hard job and we all know that. But I think he'll be disappointed with the decision that he made.”

Following that result, Fulham have now closed the gap to Leeds to nine points in the race for promotion, with the Elland Road side still second in the Championship standings.

The Verdict

I do think Dallas has some cause to be disappointed with the penalty decision made by Robinson on Saturday.

While there was contact between White and Reid, it did look to be minimal and not exactly forceful from the Leeds defender, so it does seem rather harsh for the referee to have pointed to the spot.

Even so, this result does now pile the pressure on Leeds, who will have to bounce back quickly against another play-off contender in the shape of Preston on Boxing Day, lest they want to give the chasing pack any further incentive to up their game and close the gap in the second half of the season.