a penalty for Racing that angered all Independiente

El Rojo and the Academy tied in the hottest Avellaneda classic of recent times. They were 35 minutes into the first half that Independiente beat Racing at home, with a goal from Martín Cauteruccio. A ball from Jonathan Gómez looked for Facundo Mura on the edge of the large area, from behind and with little cunning Nicolás Vallejo pushed him. Mura fell into the area and the referee Yael Falcón Pérez did not hesitate to charge a penalty. But the question immediately arose: Was the offense inside or outside?

That there was a lack, there is no discussion. The question was whether Vallejo pushed him before or after passing the penalty area line. For this reason, there was a VAR review, by Dario Herrera. The main judge did not need to go to the monitor since Ezeiza informed him that the maximum penalty that Matías Rojas executed was well sanctioned and changed to 1-1.

In any case, the images from the different cameras offered by the television broadcast were not entirely clear and it could not be reliably seen that the push had actually been inside or, failing that, on the line. Quite the opposite, the fault seemed to be more like a few centimeters outside.

Although there was a protest from Independiente, the most effusive claim occurred when the Red players left the locker room towards the field of play after the break at halftime. There, they all went over to Falcón Pérez to tell him that it had not been a penalty. Of course, in the dressing room they had seen the play on their phones.

It was late. Beyond the protest, nothing could be done. The referee explained to the local leaders, including Ivan Marcone and Cauteruccio, that although the push began outside the area, it ended up taking place on the line and that is why the penalty had been sanctioned. “The foul is charged when you finish pushing it,” the judge repeated.

Marcone’s anger

In the end again there were discussions. Marcone was harsh when referring to the subject: “A lot of anger. We wanted to win and give people victory. We got ahead, but then everything else happened. The referee charged the penalty and said that they reviewed it and that it was confirmed, he cleaned his hands. He could have gone to see her, taken a little more time. When there is an intention that the result has to be one… I don’t know if it was Herrera who was in the VAR, he will be at his house calmly because he fulfilled what he needed.”

And he added: “We saw that there was something unfair and unfair. I hope someone takes charge and takes action on the matter. The only one who should be happy is Herrera and the VAR people, who harmed us.”

The appointment of Yael Falcón Pérez for this classic was the subject of debate during the week. It is that the referee was an employee of the Municipality of Lanús, whose mayor (now on leave) is Néstor Grindetti, brand new provisional president of Independiente.

From Racing they put the cry in the sky and raised the guard. Falcón Pérez had to submit his resignation from the position he held at the Municipal Soccer Referee School. The suspicion was installed from the light blue and white side of Avellaneda.

Will he have refereed conditioned by all this previous situation? The truth is that his arbitration in the tie in the derby affected the final result.

I still did not see the penalty play, but at halftime we had received the information that it was outside ”, Ricardo Zielinski explained in his press conference. For his part, Fernando Gago responded when asked about this same topic: “I didn’t see it, I didn’t see it. To be honest, if I tell you that I see a penalty from my position, I would be a liar.”

Once again, the leading role was taken by a referee. And so, the classic was marred by a bad decision.