At the Vélodrome stadium,
If Jean-Louis Gasset was longing to see the action again, the referee of the match between OM and PSG (2-0), Sunday evening, Benoît Bastien had time to watch it again. And something rarer, even to justify it on the microphone of Amazon Prime. He came to explain his decision to refuse Jordan Veretout’s equalizer because of an offside position by Luis Henrique (58th):
“ ” So why ? Because this player at the time of the strike is in an offside position. A position that is clear. Luis Henrique is penalized for offside. He is in an offside position and due to his very close proximity to the goalkeeper, it necessarily influences his ability to intervene. Consequently the goal is refused since in the sense of the laws of the game, a player who influences the ability of an opponent to intervene, which I consider in this case because he is glued to the goalkeeper, his position becomes punishable. » »
“It changes the whole match”
In slow motion, we actually see Luis Henrique almost stuck to Donnarumma, but a Parisian defender first diverts the ball which then passes to the goalkeeper’s side where the Brazilian is not. “I long to see him again because it’s debatable. It changes the whole match, if it is validated we put them in their 30 meters during the 15-20 minutes where we can win the match. This is why I speak of frustration,” regretted Jean-Louis Gasset.
Another decision by Mr. Bastien also caused a lot of talk, that of sending off Parisian defender Beraldo for a stroll on Aubameyang more than 40 meters from Donnarumma’s goals. Here too the referee justified himself at length. “I was first alerted by my assistant referee who told me that there was a foul by Berlado who pushed Mr. Aubameyang. By his positioning, he is the one who is best placed to identify this jostling in the sense of the laws of the game which causes him to lose his ability to be able to play the action afterwards. I am issuing a warning to Mr. Hernandez for challenging my assistant. And then I am rightly alerted by my video assistant referee to reanalyze the action because we are in a case of a potential red card. And after viewing the images, for me it is obvious that this action must be punished with the annihilation of a clear goal action,” he explained.
Asked about this decision at a press conference, Luis Enrique played it nice: “I am not in the habit of judging refereeing decisions, especially since there is VAR. The action was in front of me and I thought there was no mistake. But I don’t want to talk about the referee, nor comment on his decisions, nor ask for an explanation.” Easier to do after winning a new classic at rival Marseille thanks, also, to the cancellation of the Olympian equalizer.