The match nine points » (sic) anticipated by Roberto De Zerbi at a press conference finally gave birth to a draw, sending the current second and fourth in Ligue 1 back to back. Diakité (87e) responded to Merlin’s opening score (17e) to allow Lille to snatch a point at the Vélodrome. To the great dismay of the Olympians who, from the final whistle, pointed the finger at Mr. Delajod’s refereeing.
Facing the media, the Italian coach of the Phocéens noted an alleged – but slight – foul on Rowe in the area at the end of the match; but also an obstruction in the 16 meters on Hojbjerg and a fatal block to Balerdi on the equalizing action of the Mastiffs. Two final points which, when reading the images, raise questions about the responsibility of the VAR, probably not up to the level of the poster on Saturday evening again.
Genesio also exposes his grievances
On social networks, Medhi Benatia, President Longoria’s sports advisor, chose to express himself in emojis so as not to aggravate his case with the Disciplinary Commission and the chamber dedicated to ethics, which this season have already cracked down on him. And on the Lille side, satisfaction was not there either on Saturday evening behind the scenes at the Vélodrome.
When a question was asked about the referee’s supposed favors towards his team, Bruno Genesio in turn outlined his grievances: “ Favored by the referee? I think we didn’t see the same match… If you saw that the referee favored us, you must not have been in the right stand. Two actions that irritated me a little, but I think it’s not much. I think there could have been a penalty on Haraldsson in the first half. And an offside whistle is called when we have a 2 against 1 situation… »And to return to the obstruction observed on Hojbjerg in the surface: “ I watched the action again. It’s a duel, that’s all. There are blocks like that in every match… »
