Pedro Henriques spots two refereeing howlers in Sporting v Arsenal | OneFootball

Pedro Henriques gave his analysis of the incidents in Sporting - Arsenal (1-0), valid for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. The former Portuguese referee confirmed that the gunners’ first goal was correctly disallowed, but challenged two yellow cards: one that was shown to Hidemasa Morita and another that Kai Havertz should have received.

"31’: wrongly shown. The yellow card for Morita was incorrect, it was theatrical. As he slipped and went sliding in, it gave the impression that he had caught Trossard with his studs, but there was no contact and his legs went past from the side, trapping the opponent’s leg; it should only have been a direct free-kick", his conclusions published by newspaper A Bola read.

As for Sporting’s first 'scare', Pedro Henriques has no doubt: "64’: offside. Goal correctly disallowed after VAR intervention, because Gyokeres, who was involved in the build-up to the move, was clearly ahead of Fresneda. A very obvious irregular position that should have been spotted by the assistant referee".

Lastly, the expert recalls Kai Havertz’s "unsporting" behaviour in the 88th minute, when he "deliberately opened his left arm and struck Luis Suárez in the face with an open hand, an incorrect gesture and attitude which, in addition to the direct free-kick that was awarded, should have been punished with a yellow card".

With this defeat – the seventh in 46 matches this season – Rui Borges’ side still believe in reaching the semi-finals of the competition. The second leg will be played on Wednesday, 15 April, at 8:00 pm, at the Emirates Stadium.

Before that, the green-and-white club will take to the pitch next Saturday, 11 April, against Estrela da Amadora. The match, counting for matchday 29 of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team coached by João Nuno, will be played at 8:30 pm at the Estádio José Gomes.

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