http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4993994.stm
Referee Terje Hauge has admitted he may have acted too quickly in
sending off Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann during Barcelona's Champions
League triumph.
Hauge dismissed Lehmann in the 18th minute for fouling Samuel Eto'o,
with Ludovic Giuly's resulting effort ruled out as Hauge had blown for
a free-kick.
"I would have liked to have taken a few more seconds before I made a
decision," Hauge told a Norwegian newspaper.
"If I'd done that, I could have given a goal and given a yellow card
as well."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and captain Thierry Henry have both
slammed Hauge's performance in Paris and claimed his decisions
favoured the Spanish side.
But the Norwegian said he was pleased with his overall display as
Barcelona won the match 2-1 thanks to goals from Eto'o and Juliano
Belletti.
And he said the Lehmann incident was a difficult one to judge after
the German became the first player to be sent off in a European Cup
final.
He added: "We had full control of the match and all in all I'm quite
happy with my performance.
"Under other circumstances I would perhaps have done something
different with Lehmann, but this mostly rested on the positioning in
relation to the situation.
"Everything happens quickly on the pitch and for me it looked as if
there was physical contact.
"As well as that it happened in the linesman's working area and I had
no reason to doubt him in this instance.
"It was obviously a big game for Arsenal, and to lose is a huge
disappointment so I understand their frustration. But we'll have to
give it a few days so we can discuss this more sensibly."
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