The Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, former coach of FC Porto and now in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers (England), has not silenced his indignation at the decisions of the referee team led by Andrew Madley in the draw (2-2) of the ‘wolves ‘ ‘ Last Saturday evening, at Anfield, against Liverpool, in particular for validating the 2-1 draw for the ‘reds’ and Salah (52′) with the Egyptian forward offside, and invalidating the 2-3 draw for Toti Gomes, presumed offside by a teammate at the start of play (82′).
«I went to talk to the referee at the end, plus Rúben [Neves, capitão de equipa], but only to talk about these two goals. The offside that is pointed out to us to invalidate the 2-3 doesn’t exist: we haven’t seen it… and it simply doesn’t exist! I’m sorry, but that’s impossible! The only explanation for the decision is that someone told you [ao árbitro] that was out of the game. There are two touches of the ball first by our players [Wolverhampton] and the decision is wrong,” said the Spanish coach in statements to ITV after the match in Liverpool, concerning the 32nd round of the FA Cup (FA Cup) and in which, given that there was no winner at the 90′ by regulation, the obligation of a new meeting between the two teams was sealed, probably on 17 or 18 January, but this time in Wolverhampton.
“I make mistakes every day too, and sometimes they do too [árbitros] also. In this match there was also the help of the VAR, and it’s a shame, because, and I’m sorry to repeat the same problem, sorry, but in the 2-3 draw there is no offside, the goal had to be validated” , considered Lopetegui, who extended the criticism… to 2-1.
“Salah’s 2-1? It’s the same in all leagues! My opinion is that we need to make the referees aware of this type of situation, as a player takes advantage of it. Salah was offside before Toti [Gomes] touch the ball: so he was ahead. And, of course, Toti just hit the ball and tried to intercept because of the offside player. [Salah]», explained at the end a didactic Lopetegui, indignant with the refereeing but finally thanking Andrew Madley for his cordiality.
«We saw the images of the offers in the booth, the referee listened to us very cordially [no final do jogo]… and that’s a good thing, because it’s not common in Spain. I love to talk about football. But the damage is done. We have to accept it! And that’s a shame, because these players deserved to win against a fantastic team like Liverpool. The players deserved to have won and the team to have qualified for the round of 16» added the coach of the ‘wolves’ to the BBC, in subsequent statements.
“In my opinion Salah’s goal should have been disallowed [o 2-1] it belongs to everyone [Gomes, que seria o 2-3] validated. This is absolutely clear, from my point of view» concluded a nonconformist Lopetegui.
