She had to resolve the injustices linked to refereeing errors, but since the start of the season, VAR has been at the center of the debate. Friday, October 15, against Paris Saint-Germain, the Angevins were indignant after the disputed decision of the referee, who nevertheless revised the images of a potential penalty awarded to PSG, but not of a possible fault by Mauro Icardi a few seconds earlier. Back on the decisions of the video refereeing which have provoked the controversy since the start of the championship.
In Lyon, the fight of Jean-Michel Aulas
Against Paris Saint-Germain (2-1 defeat), on September 19, the Lyonnais led 1-0 until the 66th minute and an equalizing penalty from Neymar. A penalty awarded a few minutes earlier by the referee of the meeting, Clément Turpin, for a foul by Malo Gusto on the Brazilian. But with a slow motion viewing, it is rather Neymar who seems to be making a mistake by first relying on the young Lyonnais, who then fell and dragged his opponent into his downfall. “In real time the penalty does not seem unjustified, but when you look at the images, Neymar leans on the player and makes him fall”, estimates Frédéric Arnault, former international referee. That evening, the central referee seems to have chatted only stealthily with his video assistants and did not go to review the images at the edge of the pitch.
A few days later, against Lorient (1-1), the Rhone Emerson was sent off shortly after the quarter of an hour of play for having caught the foot of Enzo Le Fée who was spinning towards the goal. However, he was not the last defender since Jason Denayer seemed in a position to be able to intervene. Gones coach Peter Bosz then railed against video refereeing after the meeting: “I saw a red card that I don’t understand. Was the VAR there?”. Its president, Jean-Michel Aulas, also spoke in L’Equipe on September 27 : “It’s a subject that penalizes us very strongly, but which also penalizes all of French football”.
After the derby against Saint-Etienne, where the VAR intervened against him, without creating a new controversy, the Lyon club reacted with a press release: “Against Lorient, OL could not do better than a draw in a numerical inferiority, allowing two precious points to slip away. And in Paris, perhaps the team could have maintained their advantage without this penalty too generously awarded to PSG. Why? Did not certain contentious actions lead to intervention by the VAR? And why such a lack of homogeneity in certain phases of the game, where different decisions are applied for similar actions? These are questions that video assistance should not not arouse “.
After #ASSEOL : a useful VAR but which raises questions https://t.co/I4dJz5jObC
– Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) October 4, 2021
Angers happy in Troyes but unhappy in Paris
On September 26, during the 8th day of the championship, Angers took advantage on several occasions of decisions of the VAR in his favor against Troyes (1-1). In the 88th minute, the center referee denied Troyen Oualid El Hajjam a goal, after chatting with his video assistants, as Angers goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni appeared to have been hampered by Levi Lumeka in a passive offside position. . Under pressure and disputes from ESTAC players, Mr. Leonard returned to see the images and confirmed his decision after 6 minutes of uncertainty. Before that, the VAR had signaled a penalty in favor of the SCO after a foul by Jimmy Giraudon on Azzedine Ounahi.
Against Paris Saint-Germain on the other hand, on Friday, the Angevins left the game frustrated, defeated 2-1, at the start of the 10th day. In the 87th minute, the Parisians took the advantage on a contentious penalty converted by Kylian Mbappé. Litigious because Mauro Icardi’s unframed header was involuntarily deflected by Pierrick Capelle’s arm, but above all because the Argentinian seemed to commit a fault by retaining Romain Thomas by the arm at the entrance to the surface.
The central referee, Mr. Dechepy, reviewed the images of Capelle’s hand, but not of the previous fault, enough to annoy Romain Thomas at the microphone of Prime Video: “The VAR is starting to tire me, we put millions into something, we don’t even know how to use it. There is a fault at the start of Icardi’s action. He pulls me on the arm, I fall, and afterwards he plays from his position for the penalty “. His trainer, Gérald Baticle, also reacted at a press conference: “Tonight there is a great feeling of injustice. Anger even. I have always said that I will not cry for refereeing decisions, I’m not far from it. It’s hard to take”.
Paris Saint-Germain often favored
Against Angers, the Parisians had already claimed a penalty in the first half for an alleged foul by Pierrick Capelle on Mauro Icardi in the area. A penalty ultimately not awarded. But since the start of the season, PSG have still taken advantage of several contentious VAR decisions in their favor. In addition to penalties against Lyon and Angers, the capital club also benefited from the leniency of video arbitration against Metz, where Hakimi seemed to touch the ball with his hand in his area in the 58th minute, and against Strasbourg , during the second day of the championship. From the 3rd minute, Mauro Icardi had scored a goal with the head, validated by the VAR, while on the images, the striker seemed offside.
Julien Stéphan on Icardi’s goal which caused controversy …:
“There is offside on the first goal. It changes a lot of things, too many things. It’s a too hasty decision. Today, there are means of control. It seems very clear that there is has offside. ” #PSGRCSA pic.twitter.com/fOqQKMXfmS
– AT THE HEART OF RCS (@AUCOEURDURCS) August 15, 2021
This arbitration decision provoked the wrath of Julien Stéphan, the Strasbourg coach: “A nightmarish start? It’s the decision to validate the first goal that is nightmarish. There is offside, it changes a lot of things in the game. Too many things … It’s too hasty a decision. has time. There are ways to control “.
Marseille and Clermont also feel aggrieved
On August 15, Marseille fans rose up on social networks after an unsanctioned penalty in favor of OM against Bordeaux (2-2). In the 17th minute of play, Konrad De La Fuente was unbalanced by Mexer in the Gironde area, without the Bordeaux player touching the ball. The penalty seemed indisputable, but the referee was not alerted by his video assistants.
During the 8th day of Ligue 1, the Clermontois also claimed a penalty, quarter of an hour of play, against AS Monaco (defeat 1-3), without obtaining it. Jason Berthomier seemed broke by Djibril Sidibé in Monaco’s area, but the referee’s headset, Benoît Millot, was not working properly. “It must be the Puy-de-Dôme which scrambles the waves of the VAR because with us, it rarely works. I hear about Mr. Aulas and company but us, it goes through profit and loss. We should have 4 points of more since the start of the season “, reacted Pascal Gastien, the Auvergne coach, at the end of the meeting.
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