Pedro Henriques says Benfica were robbed against AFS, too many mistakes | OneFootball

Pedro Henriques believes there were several refereeing errors that disadvantaged Benfica in the sixth-round match between AFS and the Eagles, which ended with a victory (3-0) for José Mourinho's team. The expert mentions a penalty not awarded to Benfica and a forgiven expulsion for an AFS player.

"At the 19th minute, Sidi Bane extended his left leg and touched Ivanovic's left knee with his own left knee before hitting the top of the ball with his heel. Simultaneously, from behind, he touched the Croatian forward's right calf with his right knee, causing him to fall when he had the ball in front of him, available to play and continue the move if he hadn't been knocked down. This was a penalty-worthy infraction that was not called," he began writing in the newspaper 'A Bola'.

Pedro Henriques mentions an expulsion that went unnoticed: "At the 84th minute, a red card not shown to Devenish for a foul on Pavlidis, canceling a clear opportunity. Devenish touched the ball with his left foot, but with his right foot swept the Greek's left foot, who was heading towards the opponent's goal, with the ball available to be played (controlled ball), at a short distance from the opponent's goal and with the nearest AFS player who could intervene more than six meters away, behind the place of infraction. VAR could have intervened, it's covered in the protocol, but had a different understanding," it reads.

Despite the errors, the expert says the penalty on Nicolás Otamendi was well awarded: "At the 56th minute, a penalty well awarded by the referee and later confirmed by VAR. Sidi Bane, when jumping for the ball to intercept it, never touched it; Otamendi was the one who headed the ball, and the AFS player was reckless in his approach. Besides not touching the ball, he also hit the center-back's mouth with his right arm, knocking him down. Good decision confirmed by VAR," he stated.

Benfica returns to the field next Tuesday, September 23, at 8:15 PM, at Estádio da Luz, against Rio Ave. The match pertains to the first round (delayed) of the Liga Portugal Betclic and will be played against the team led by Sotiris Sylaidopoulos.

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