Refereeing expert: Missed penalty and red card in AFS v Benfica | OneFootball

Pedro Henriques analyzed Bruno Costa’s performance in officiating the AFS - Benfica match, a duel that ended with a victory (3-0) for José Mourinho’s side. The refereeing expert lists several mistakes that ultimately harmed José Mourinho’s team.

“In the 19th minute, Sidi Bane stretched out his left leg and touched Ivanovic’s left knee with his own left knee before making contact with the top of the ball with his heel. At the same time, from behind, he hit 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 had he not been brought down. This was a foul punishable by a penalty kick that went uncalled,” he began in the newspaper ‘A Bola’.

Pedro Henriques mentions a sending-off that was overlooked: “In the 84th minute, a red card should have been shown to Devenish for a foul on Pavlidis, denying a clear opportunity. Devenish touched the ball with his left foot, but with his right foot swept the Greek player’s left foot, who was heading towards the opposing goal, with the ball available to play (under control), at a short distance from the goal, and with the nearest Aves player who could intervene more than six meters away, behind the spot of the foul. VAR could have intervened, as provided for in the protocol, but had a different interpretation,” it reads.

Despite the mistakes, the expert says the penalty awarded to Nicolás Otamendi was correctly given: “In the 56th minute, a penalty was correctly awarded by the referee and later confirmed by VAR. Sidi Bane, when jumping for the ball to intercept it, never touched it; it was Otamendi who headed the ball, and the Aves player was reckless in his approach. Besides not touching the ball, he also struck the defender in the mouth with his right arm, bringing him down. Good decision confirmed by VAR,” he stated.

Benfica will be back on the pitch next Tuesday, September 23, at 8:15 pm, at Estádio da Luz, against Rio Ave. The match is for the first round (delayed) of the Liga Portugal Betclic and will be played against the team led by Sotiris Sylaidopoulos.

See the unawarded penalty:

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