OM's Champions League evening in Lisbon on Wednesday turned into a disaster. While they were leading the score thanks to Igor Paixao and had the match well in hand against Sporting, the Marseillais saw the tide turn at the end of the first period. With a penalty however whistled in their favor.
Alerted by the video assistance, the referee of the match, however, changed his mind when reading the images, then issuing a warning to Emerson Palmieri for simulation. Weary for the Olympians and the Italian defender, the latter had already received a yellow card a few minutes earlier for a completely involuntary hand…
Scandalous from the point of view of the Marseillais
It was therefore numerically inferior that the Phocaeans ended up giving in and lowering their flag. On an opposing equalizer judged to the millimeter by VAR and a shot deflected by Benjamin Pavard who surprised Geronimo Rulli in the money time (2-1). A cruel and bitter scenario for Roberto De Zerbi's men, who judged afterwards that the person in charge of the evening whistle was “not not at the level of such a match “.
Same opinion expressed by Ciel et Blancs striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: “ The referees were not up to standard, there was nothing to say, there was nothing for us. It's scandalous when we have a match with so much at stake, in the Champions League, to see referees like that, it's scandalous. It penalizes us, because we were having a good match. It changes the whole aspect of the match… »
Justified according to Bruno Derrien
This Thursday evening on the airwaves of RMC, the former international referee Bruno Derrien shared his expertise, to say the least, clear-cut. “ On the first yellow, Emerson can't do much with his hand except cut his arm. In the simulation, the referee is obliged to give the second yellow card. Simulation, it's a yellow card. That's the rule. It's totally justified. The debate is about the first yellow card. Certainly, the arm is a little off, but is this an act of anti-play? I'm not totally convinced. »
And to recall the sequence which could have earned the Marseillais a red card much earlier in the match: a gross foul by Leonardo Balerdi then in the position of last defense. “ On Balerdi's very first foul, it's an orange-yellow. I asked myself the question: doesn't this fault deprive Sporting of a clear goal action? The referee did not want to draw a red straight away, others might have done so. He demonstrated psychology. »
