Fernando Espinoza explains Fascendini’s sending off | OneFootball

Unión’s defeat against Lanús in the second round of the 2026 Torneo Apertura was marked by the sending off of Valentín Fascendini near the end of the first half, a decision that came after VAR intervention and ultimately conditioned the course of the match.

The incident occurred at the 42nd minute of the first half, following a long ball aimed at Rodrigo Castillo. In the challenge, Fascendini brought down the Lanús forward as he was advancing in attack. Initially, Fernando Espinoza called offside, but after being called by VAR, he reviewed the play and changed his decision, showing the red card to the Unión defender for considering it a clear goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO).

After the match, the referee publicly explained the reasons for his decision. “It’s a clear goal-scoring opportunity play where we have a possible offside that I analyzed. When they draw the lines, there is no offside, so we have to interpret DOGSO,” Espinoza stated.

In his explanation, the referee highlighted the criteria he took into account to sanction the sending off: “My interpretation is that I have the defense set with a forward at speed. I have all four considerations to send him off. Since there is no offside, we end up with a clear goal-scoring opportunity situation.” He also clarified that the distance to the goal was not a mitigating factor: “The distance doesn’t matter because he’s at speed, and the distance closes quickly with the forward already launched.”

He also emphasized the defenders’ positioning: “When I observe the play, I have the forward launched at speed and the defenders with their backs to their own goal, which always favors the forward,” he concluded, thus justifying the disciplinary sanction.

The sending off left Unión with ten players for more than 50 minutes and changed the course of a match that until that moment had been evenly balanced. Lanús took advantage of their numerical superiority and managed to get ahead before the break, in a refereeing decision that proved decisive in the final result.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.