The 15th day of the First Division left several controversial actions regarding the refereeing, the most notable being the expulsion of Milla, from Getafe, after insulting Buchanan when the Villarreal player hit him with a ball while he was on the ground, … and the red cards to Madrid’s Fran García and especially to Álvaro Carreras.
Oviedo – Majorca
Expulsions of Cazorla (89) and Fede Viñas (95), after a warning from the VAR. Cazorla was shown yellow and the other was only penalized with a foul. In both cases they are tackles with the studs on the ankle, so both are red, but the referee on the field should have seen it, especially the second one.
Alavés – Real Sociedad
Minutes 45+2: Alberola sanctions a penalty for a handball from Elustrondo. It is true that the ball touches his arm following a poor clearance from a teammate, but it is a few meters from him and his arm is fully extended. The ball could have fallen on an opponent.
Betis – Barcelona
Minute 54: Penalty sanctioned by Bartra for handball after VAR review. Success. Although before touching it to the body, the arm is above the shoulder from the start of the action. The key is knowing what your arm is like when you go into combat. The arm is completely vertical.
Minute 89: Penalty awarded by Koundé to Abde for knocking him down. It’s clear because he trips him from behind.
Athletics club – Atleti
Minute 25: They are calling for a penalty for Giuliano pushing Nico Williams while he is jumping and in the air. It’s true that he puts his arm on his back to hinder him, but there is no movement. There is no penalty.
Minute 47: Forgive a player a card for seriously insulting another. He does it on the bench, more participants listen to him and the red card is forgiven. From this moment on, can you tell me what authority you have to manage the rest of the game…
Espanyol – Rayo Vallecano
Minute 36: Pep Chavarría loses the ball on the edge of the area where Dolan steals it, which falls when the defender tries to recover the ball again. Sánchez Martínez gives a penalty but he makes a mistake. The contact is the result of an argument and the attacker falls to the ground intentionally, not because he was fouled.
Real Madrid – Celta
Quintero Gonzalez He showed a lot of personality. He was very lucky with his decisions. He was not intimidated by the scene nor by the Madrid players and staff. He sends off Fran García for two yellow cards, for two fouls a minute apart, and shows Carreras the second yellow card for making a big deal about him. Later, several players surround him and he berates them for protesting several times. Furthermore, he goes to the bench and shows another red card for something he understands he cannot allow.
The game itself was tense but not controversial. He criticizes Carreras for protesting and then tells him: “You are very bad”, so he shows him a red card. Endrick protests angrily from the bench and also sends him off with a straight red card. The normal thing is that both are punished with two games each.
Carvajal, who was in the tunnel from the locker room without being able to do so, comments on his performance and could also be sanctioned, although being injured it will have little importance.
The other controversy of the day is Milla’s expulsion. Buchanan hits him with the ball in play after he had fallen to the ground, he gets up, walks towards the Villarreal player and in front of the assistant and the fourth referee he says: “You are a son of a bitch”. What Buchanan does is a gesture that can be considered “ugly”, but it cannot be considered aggression, far from it. This is a legal action since the ball is in play. How many times does a player hit another player to cause a throw-in, a corner or a goal in his favor? What the referee cannot and must not do is turn a deaf ear, or close his eyes, to forgive the errors of Mile or Carreras, among others. And the least we can do is to justify these actions, and at the same time criticize the referees when the decisions were very correct. It’s football, dad.
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