In the ranks of Manchester City supporters, the final whistle did not put an end to discussions, far from it. On social networks as in specialized forums, frustration dominates among some Mancunian fans, convinced of having been wronged by the refereeing against Paris Saint-Germain. At the heart of the discord: a contentious action that occurred in the 9th minute of the game in the Parisian area, involving Rayan Cherki and Ile-de-France captain Marquinhos.
While the two men were dueling in the penalty area, the Brazilian defender brought the former Lyon player to the ground without obviously touching the ball. However, the referee signaled to play and the VAR found nothing wrong with this decision. The pill is all the more bitter for the Citizens as a few moments later, Désiré Doué opened the scoring for Paris, before the second goal for the reigning champions was scored straight away by Ousmane Dembélé, knocking out the Mancuniens for good.
For Skyblues supporters, this sequence went very badly, even more so given the penalty awarded at the end of the match to PSG following a foul on Nuno Mendes at the entrance to the area – ultimately missed by Ferran Torres. A fault which seemed much less obvious to a large part of the Mancunian fans.
“VAR is an absolute joke”
On social networks, anger was quickly expressed: “Cherki gets his foot taken down in the 9th minute without anything, but Mendes gets a penalty on a breather at the end of the match? VAR is an absolute joke”protests a fan on X (ex-Twitter). “Double standards. Marquinhos almost doesn’t touch the ball and takes Cherki’s leg, then behind we take two shock goals from Doué and Dembélé. The refereeing totally biased the match”rails another supporter on a specialized forum. “The speed with which VAR swept away the foul on Cherki is scandalous. It deserved at least a check at the side of the field”writes another follower of the club.
However, the sequence was not mentioned by the Citizens after the meeting.
“It was a bit strange. Until the first goal, we started well, we were in the match. Then we conceded the first, then the second goal. We adjusted our pressing at half-time. I think we lost a little balance. But even at 3-0 in the first half, with all the chances we had, we deserved better,” Enzo Maresca simply commented to the press.
