This Saturday evening, the Lens – Lille derby (0-2) shifted to 90 + 4th, while the score was still 0-0. On a cross from Edon Zhegrova, the ball hit Kevin Danso‘s leg, before bouncing off his hand. After a long deliberation between referee Benoît Bastien, who reviewed the images on his control screen, and his VAR colleagues, a penalty was whistled in favor of LOSC, transformed by Jonathan David (90 + 8th, 0-1 ).
At a press conference after the match, Will Still, the Lensois coach, hid his annoyance poorly. “I thought the rules stipulated that from the moment the ball was deflected by a part of your own player’s body, you couldn’t call a penalty, and that from the moment the hand was in a natural position , you couldn’t whistle him either. Apparently I’m wrong. I received explanations from the arbitration body who told me that this type of situation is very contentious. Kev’s hand position (Distinguish) was considered unlawful, because it increased the surface area of his body, and the fact that the ball touched his leg did not matter. »
“For me, it’s difficult to swallow (…). There is misunderstanding”
Adrien Thomasson, RC Lens midfielder
A little earlier, Adrien Thomasson, the Lens midfielder, had also expressed his disappointment at the microphone of DAZN: “At the start of the season, Mr. (Amaury) Delerue (the manager-instructor of Ligue 1 referees) came to explain to us for an hour and a half, and it was very interesting in fact, that there is no penalty for this type of action where the ball touches the thigh of a player before touching his hand. We are in exactly this type of situation. (…) Obviously, the referee said at the time that Kevin Danso had made an uncontrolled gesture. For me, it’s difficult to swallow, because in the action the ball hits his lower body before hitting the arm. There is misunderstanding. »
