Benfica slam Sporting-Santa Clara refereeing: no shame left | OneFootball

The match between Sporting and Santa Clara, on the return of the Liga Portugal Betclic after the latest international break, was marked by refereeing that raised plenty of doubts. In the aftermath of the game, which the Lions won 4-2, both Porto and Benfica reacted to the goal disallowed for Gonçalo Paciência of the Azorean side and criticized the criteria applied in the play.

Through social media, the Eagles made a post sharing images of the incident in question, finding the refereeing team's decision to disallow Gonçalo Paciência’s goal unbelievable, in what could have been Santa Clara’s third goal at Alvalade. Even the player himself, in the flash interview, was not indifferent to the situation.

"There is no shame anymore", Benfica wrote in the post made on social media platform X, alongside a video in which the play from the Sporting-Santa Clara match can be reviewed, confirming that the refereeing team’s decision to disallow the move was misjudged, ultimately penalizing the Azorean side coached by Petit.

"When you come to Alvalade, score three goals and get no points, it’s difficult. It’s three goals... I think everyone saw it. I don’t want to be here fueling the refereeing debate, but it is what it is, it’s the football we have, that we want to promote, that’s it. There are a lot of performers out there talking and commenting, I didn’t want to go too much into that", fired Gonçalo Paciência at the end of the match.

It should be remembered that this is not the first time Benfica - while preparing for the clash with Casa Pia - have spoken out against the refereeing in matches between Sporting and Santa Clara. It was the third time this season that the Lions benefited from questionable decisions against the Azorean side. In the first half of the season, a non-existent corner kick in the final minutes allowed the green-and-whites to win 2-1. Later, in the Portuguese Cup, VAR awarded a penalty to the Sporting side after 12 minutes of reviewing footage, which allowed the green-and-whites to equalize and, consequently, advance in the competition.

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