
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes slated the Romanian referee who handed Chikhura Sachkhere a penalty in Tbilisi.
McInnes insists there was no contact from Funso Ojo on Irakli Lekvtadze in the box. However, whistler Horatiu Fesnic awarded a spot kick which was converted.
He praised his raging side for bouncing back after half-time to secure a 1-1 draw and not have their Euro dreams wrecked by a wrong refereeing decision.
Sam Cosgrove netted a penalty equaliser and vital away goal to put Aberdeen in control ahead of the return leg of the Europa League second qualifying round return leg at Pittodrie on Thursday.
McInnes also confirmed Ash Taylor has suffered a hamstring injury as the Dons face a defensive injury crisis.
He said: “I don’t think there was any contact and it was a poor decision.
“We felt a grievance at half-time.
“However, the response from my team was good. The decision for our penalty had a delay, which caused a bit of a surprise.
“But having seen it again I think it was a handball.”
The Chikhura spot-kick piled more pressure on the Dons after centre-back Taylor limped off after only 18 minutes.
With no defender on the bench, midfielder Craig Bryson had to come on as a substitute for his debut.
McInnes had to reshuffle his defence, with Jon Gallagher and then Ryan Hedges filling in at full-back as Andy Considine moved into the middle of defence.
Mikey Devlin is already ruled out with a hamstring injury, while summer signing Greg Leigh is also sidelined with an ankle injury.
Leigh has yet to feature in Europe, having suffered the injury in the pre-season friendly with Inverness Caley Thistle.
McInnes said: “We don’t know about Ash.
“It is obviously a hamstring injury and we will reassess it when we get to Aberdeen.
“Under the circumstances, losing another defender to injury, we already have two injuries to centre half and left-back.
“Our options to play at full-back were a bit of a challenge for us.”
After his second half penalty, Cosgrove has netted in all three European games this season.
McInnes praised the Dons for bouncing back from the setback of losing the goal and Taylor’s injury.
He said: “When we needed a response at half-time we gave it.
“I was very pleased with the response from the team.”
Aberdeen have now moved into the box seat for a clash with HNK Rijeka of Croatia in the third qualifying round.
However, McInnes has urged caution and insists he will take nothing for granted in Thursday’s return.
He said: “It was not a perfect performance and not a perfect result.
“We started the game very well, very confident and very assured.
“When Ash Taylor got injured it threw us out of our flow a little and we didn’t finish the first half as well as we would have liked.
“But we know it is only half-time in the tie and we still have it all to do in Aberdeen.
“Our opponents showed enough qualities to prove they are still in the tie.
“The away goal is very important to us, but it doesn’t give you any guarantees.
“Our opponent showed enough qualities for us to recognise we are still in a tough tie.”
The Georgians are 21 games into their domestic campaign and McInnes accepts they will still pose a threat in the return.
He said: “I have been very impressed with the Georgians.
“They are a well-managed team with good technical players that play with a lot of passion. They deserve a lot of respect.
“We have a high regard for our opponent and we felt at this stage in our season they would be difficult opponents.
“And we still feel they will be difficult opponents.”