"I wasn't sure whether we were playing Wolves or the Harlem Globetrotters at one point!"
Sunday 17 February 2019 18:15, UK
Lee Johnson compared Wolves to the Harlem Globetrotters as he felt there were three handballs in Bristol City's 1-0 FA Cup defeat to the Premier League side.
Ivan Cavaleiro scored Wolves' only goal in the cup tie as the Midlands club prepare for their first FA Cup quarter-final in 16 years.
But Johnson felt there was a handball by Matt Doherty in the build-up to the goal, who squared the ball across to Cavaleiro to apply the finish, and also thought his team should have had a penalty after Jay Dasilva's cross struck Doherty's hand.
"I did think it was handball for the goal," he said.
"I wasn't sure whether we were playing Wolves or the Harlem Globetrotters at one point! There were three handballs. The one that (Willy) Boly received from the goalkeeper as well.
"The one that disappointed me was the goal. It was clear. Although it was a ricochet, it laid the ball perfectly into the path of (Matt) Doherty to square it into an area where we didn't have players recovering."
There appeared to be friction and words exchanged between the respective coaching teams as the sides went off at the break at Ashton Gate.
City's assistant head coach Jamie McAllister was understood to have been cautioned by referee Martin Atkinson, but Johnson described the fracas as "a bit of handbags".
He said: "To be fair, they are a fiery bench and we are a fiery bench as well.
"There was a bit of handbags. To be honest, I don't actually know what started it. It's nothing."
City, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat since November, but Johnson took considerable comfort from his side's second-half display.
"We have got to respect that Wolves are a fantastic side, full of energy, power and quality, and I thought we really gave it a go," he added.
"In the first half, we were off the pace in comparison. Tactically, we didn't get our game going, and the second half was the complete opposite.
"We showed character, charisma and identity in the second half. It's hurting that we are out of the cup, because we felt that we had a chance.
"But you have got to learn from defeats, and we take the positives, but we also understand where we are a little bit short at that level. We took a very good side right down to the wire."
