‘REF GOT IT SO WRONG AT PENALTY PLEA,’ LUSTIG

Goalscorer Patrick Roberts was clearly pulled back by struggling left-back Gael Clichy as he made his way into the box, with TV pictures showing the Manchester City player with two arms around the winger.

Lustig was directly behind the incident and was upset that City escaped any punishment.

The Swede said: “It was a clear penalty. It was a bad moment because not only did we not get the penalty, but I got a yellow card, too, so that wasn’t the best.“The additional assistant is just two yards away. He has one job and it is a clear foul. I think he knew it, too.“It would have been the perfect opportunity for us to go in to the break with a lead, but it wasn’t to be and that was a bit frustrating.”

Lustig, though, is confident the Hoops are moving in the right direction among Europe’s elite.

He said: “I think we feel as though we have shown improvements as the campaign has gone on.

“The only one we would be annoyed abut is the home game against Borussia Monchengladbach. That is the one game where we should have taken something.

“We gave them two goals and we just didn’t play the way we can, especially at home. That is the one regret.“We were disappointed, too, in Barcelona, but we managed to pick ourselves up from that.”Otherwise, it has been a good learning experience and, hopefully, that will help us and we look to go forward as a team.”

Lustig added: “We came out and created three chances right after the break last night, three big chances, and I think we did enough to win this game.

“I do think we have shown a lot of character, but, more than that, we have also shown that we can compete with the best.“We have learned a lot and we have come a long distance in a short space of time.“It has definitely given us a hunger to go and do it again next season. It is such a difficult journey to get into the Champions League, but when you are here and playing against the very best teams, there is nothing like it.”