Manchester City thought it had scored a second goal late in the first half against Liverpool, a goal that would have put the Citizens up 2-0 and two thirds of the way to erasing the 3-0 defeat from the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. But the referees thought otherwise and the disallowed Manchester City goal was a defining moment of the first half.
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti has issued an apology for his sending off against Real Madrid in the Champions League, but the Italian international isn’t entirely repentant for his actions — he’s convinced German referee Felix Brych wouldn’t have shown a second yellow card to someone like Lionel Messi in the same situation.
With PSG trailing Real 4-1 on aggregate in the 66th minute, Verratti won possession back for his side outside the opponent’s box. However, with three Real players quickly surrounding him, Verratti lost the ball while screaming for a foul.
FIFA officially approved the use of video assistant referees at this summer’s World Cup during a FIFA Council meeting on Friday in Bogota, Colombia. After testing the system out at last year’s Confederations Cup, World Cup VAR is sure to annoy all the England fans who like to complain about not having anything to complain about.
Aquí tenemos un período de cinco días tan Luis Suárez que incluso Luis Suárez lo llamaría un cliché. El martes pasado, el delantero uruguayo entró en el minuto 76 del empate 1-1 del Barcelona con el Chelsea. Suárez recibió la amarilla después de que Lionel Messi se enfrentara al juez de línea.
El jugador de 31 años estaba girando en el suelo, gritando por un penal cuando Messi convirtió el ingenioso pase de Andrés Iniesta en un gol vital para el Barca. Suárez se levantó como si nada, se burló del juez de línea y se fue corriendo para celebrar. Luego lo amonestaron.
It’s rare one shares a pitch with Nigel de Jong and doesn’t come out with something bleeding, broken or bruised. Somehow, Germany referee Deniz Aytekin managed to survive offering the Dutch bad boy some candy before snarfing it down himself during a DFB Pokal match between Mainz and Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday.
Ajax played at FC Utrecht on Sunday in the Eredivisie, a scoreless draw that was relatively unremarkable — except for the exploits of one Lukas Görtler. Utrecht’s German striker Görtler was sent off for a second yellow card, despite having been substituted off the pitch more than 30 minutes prior.
Chelsea had two players shown second yellow cards after being adjudged to have been guilty of simulation during their FA Cup replay against Championship side Norwich on Wednesday. Nonetheless, Antonio Conte’s side survived a 94th-minute equalizer and managed to advance 5-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
The absurdity of the Chelsea vs. Norwich City replay was not about the beauty of the FA Cup, but instead the beauty of a referee who didn’t take shit from anyone, even with VAR ready to back him up.