Yes, this is a turning point. Yes, the decision is more than questionable. Yes, Lille’s wrath is completely understood. 32nd minute of a Saint-Etienne – Lille closed in a double turn. This is the moment that Bradaric chooses to insure his head poorly. Khazri throws himself on the offering but stumbles on the foot of the Lillois who is back to the Stéphanois. Penalty without recourse to VAR. Khazri opened the scoring and LOSC gave up two points to Geoffroy-Guichard. “I consider the penalty to be a manifest error in refereeing, judged Christophe Galtier at a press conference. Wahbi Khazri comes with a lot of experience on my player Domagoj Bradaric. With video and professional referees, this shouldn’t be happening.“
Earlier, at the microphone of Téléfoot the chain, the northerner coach was even more biting: “I don’t know what is being said in the atria. It’s still rare to whistle on it. Everyone falls into the trap. We will try to stay calm …“Same observation with Benjamin André. The midfielder of the Mastiffs does not understand how the penalty could have been whistled:”It’s incredible, how can we whistle on this action? asked the former Rennais. When a player like ‘Brada’ is in front, it is still difficult to foul another who is behind his back and who does not have the ball.. “
The analysis is very different on the Saint-Etienne side. For Claude Puel, the coach of the Greens, it seems clear that the referee made the right decision: “It may be unintentional but there is a fault, judged Puel. Wahbi doesn’t fall on purpose. It may be unfortunate for Lille but there is a penalty.“A version which will not convince Lille. Even if this decision does not explain everything. Galtier easily recognized it:”This does not take away from our bad first half but it is an important fact of the game. But when you only play one period, it’s hard to win“, he regretted with our colleagues from Téléfoot. Yes, Lille can regret a very severe decision. But LOSC can also blame themselves for having started their match in the 45th minute …