Pedro Henriques on António Silva’s penalty: mitigating factor | OneFootball

Pedro Henriques believes that the decision by Gustavo Correia (Referee) and João Bento (VAR) to award a penalty for António Silva's handball in the Benfica – Casa Pia match was not correct. According to the former referee, the fact that the ball rebounded off the stomach of the Eagles' central defender should have been a reason for the penalty not to be awarded.

“After Livolant's shot, the ball hits António Silva's stomach and then rebounds to his left arm. The arm is in a natural position and without volume. The ball coming from a rebound off one's own body is a mitigating factor for a play not to be penalized with a foul,” says Pedro Henriques, analyzing the most controversial play of the Benfica – Casa Pia match.

At the end of the match, António Silva was the first Benfica player to express his outrage at what happened: “What the protocol says is that if the ball comes from a rebound and hits the hand, it is not a penalty. I can't understand how the referee ends up deciding on a penalty against us. It conditioned the game.”

Immediately after, José Mourinho, Benfica's coach, went further: “It's hard to understand how the referee decides on the penalty, but it's harder to understand why the VAR doesn't intervene in a play that is obvious, which is one of the great examples of what UEFA, FIFA, national leagues make clear at the start of each season.”

With this draw – the fifth in 22 games this season –, Benfica now has 25 points in 11 matches in the Liga Portugal Betclic (seven wins, four draws, and zero losses) and occupies third place. Porto is first (31 points in 11 games) and Sporting second (28 points in 11 matches).

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