Iturralde González: Benfica hard done by vs Gil Vicente, crystal clear | OneFootball

Benfica experienced a major scare against Gil Vicente in the seventh round of the Liga Portugal Betclic. Despite the 2-1 home victory over the Barcelos team, the match was marked by a controversial foul in favor of Benfica that preceded Gil Vicente's goal and went uncalled. Iturralde González paid close attention to the incident, and his opinion aligns with that of other refereeing experts.

"It's a very clear foul and a yellow card. The Gil Vicente player comes from behind with studs at the level of the Achilles tendon of the opposing player," the Spaniard told the newspaper Record, referring to the incident where António Silva was fouled by Pablo, a foul that was not called.

Then, Iturralde González criticized the referee's decision: "It seems that, often, when players don't dive, referees don't blow the whistle. And what they're doing is encouraging them to dive, which shouldn't be the case."

Finally, the former referee revealed that the Gil Vicente player's challenge was almost worthy of a red card: "This is a reckless challenge, bordering on a red card. It's not because the player doesn't leave all the studs and doesn't impact with excessive force. But the height and the manner of coming from behind result in clear admonishment and foul."

With the Champions League clash against Chelsea just hours away, Benfica faces another important challenge this week. This is because the Eagles travel to Porto's ground next Sunday, October 5th, for a match in the eighth round of the National Championship.

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