Adam Wharton bemoaned soft officiating in the Conference League after AEK Larnaca held Crystal Palace in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie.
Wharton — booked twice in Europe this season — shared the dismay of the Palace support, who booed Croatian referee Igor Pajac at full time.
The 22-year-old, however, can have no complaints about his yellow card in Thursday’s goalless draw after he flew into a late challenge on Đorđe Ivanović.
Palace had 11 fouls given against them, compared to seven for Larnaca. Wharton, the sole player carded at Selhurst Park, has been agitated by the stop-start nature of continental ties during Palace's maiden European campaign.
“It's a lot less physical in these games,” said Palace midfielder Wharton. “The referees give fouls for pretty much nothing.
“You can't be physical and get into them. If you do, they'll fall over, scream and get a foul. It's also a lot tougher to be aggressive – you’ve got to be careful.
“It's football. It's a contact sport. These referees are just different. In the Premier League, a shoulder barge, the ball goes forward, so I've obviously touched the ball, but they don't see it that way.
“It's very inconsistent. You have to play the game differently. You’ve got to be a lot less physical and maybe a bit more tactical.
“They're an experienced team. They've got some older players, and they know how to get a foul by being loud and falling over.
“We could have done that a couple of times. There was a time when Brennan [Johnson] could have gone down and probably got a penalty, because if he shouts loud enough for the referee, he'll give it.”
All to play for
Palace have failed to score in 180 minutes of football against AEK Larnaca this season, after falling to a 1-0 defeat against the Cypriot outfit in the League Phase.
Oliver Glasner’s side head to the Mediterranean next week, where they have work to do in the second leg to reach the quarter-finals.
Larnaca are unbeaten in Europe this season and have conceded just once in seven games in the competition.
But Palace will be encouraged by creating six big chances at home, with an xG of 1.98 — they just need to be more clinical in the second leg.
“It's frustrating, but there are positives to take, Wharton explained. “We got into good areas. They've conceded one goal in the Conference League this year, so they’re not going to roll over.
“You're not going to get a million chances. We got in some good areas. We created some good chances. We should have scored, really. On another day, we do.
“We limited their chances, which is positive. It gives us confidence. We've just got to do the bit at the other end of the pitch and hopefully get the result next week. It's about going into the second leg with the same mindset.
"We want to score goals, and we are still getting in those areas, but it’s harder to get those chances in Europe. In the Premier League, teams don't sit back as deep against us. This is the biggest difference. It's a test to break them down, create chances and score.”
