Referee expert clear: Missed penalty and red card let off in AFS v Benfica | OneFootball

Pedro Henriques analyzed the work of Bruno Costa in leading AFS - Benfica, a match that ended with a victory (3-0) for José Mourinho's team. The refereeing expert lists several errors that ended up disadvantaging José Mourinho's team.

"At 19 minutes, Sidi Bane stretched 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 be played and to continue the move if he hadn't been knocked down. A penalty kick infraction that was not called," he began writing in the newspaper 'A Bola'.

Pedro Henriques talks about an expulsion that went unnoticed: "At 84’, 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 Avense player who could intervene more than six meters away, behind, from the place of infraction. VAR could have intervened, it is contemplated in the protocol, however, it had a different understanding," it reads.

Despite the errors, the expert says that the penalty on Nicolás Otamendi was well called: "At 56', penalty kick well called by the referee and subsequently 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 Avense 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.

See the penalty not called:

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