The third act of the Europa League quickly turned into a nightmare for LOSC this Thursday evening against PAOK Salonika. Cold picked by a veteran of the house – Soualiho Méïté – from the 18e minute, the Mastiffs again faltered in front of Andrika Zivkovic, only five minutes later (23e). Before a funny turn in the game.
Launched like a ball on his left flank, Matias Fernandez-Pardo thought he was offering his team an opportunity to recover when his bodyguard roughly caught him in the area. At the time, Mr. Dabanovic, the Montenegrin referee of the game, did not flinch. But the video assistance did not fail to alert him.
After watching the images of the action at length and noting the insistent pulling of the jersey which caused the Belgian LOSC striker to fall in the penalty area, the official decided to stand his ground. Namely to maintain the goal kick initially decided.
Lille residents sanctioned more vigorously
No penalty for Lille, therefore. A verdict all the harder to accept as the consequence will have been terrible for Bruno Genesio's men. In the process, the Greeks tripled the lead thanks to a well-aimed attempt from Ioannis Kostantelias (0-3, 42e). A cruel scenario.
At the break, while the refereeing trio returned to the locker room, LOSC president Olivier Létang did not fail to call out to Mr. Dabanovic, phone in hand. “ I have already written to Mr. Ceferin (the president of UEFA, editor’s note), What happened is incomprehensible! » An interaction to which the person concerned did not react.
