Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey said Atletico Madrid were not awarded a penalty when Joao Cancelo saved Angel Correa in the penalty area because the VAR “thought to themselves that this was not a clear and obvious mistake” and refers to the incident earlier in the game. The match between Phil Foden and Felipe caused all the chaos later in the match.
Atletico and Man City played a contentious 0-0 match at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday evening, as the English Premier League team qualified for the semi-finals, after coach Pep Guardiola’s team won 1-0.
One of the many talking points of the match was the incident between Cancelo and Correa, in which the City defender appeared to kick the Argentine in the penalty area and a penalty was not awarded – a major decision that could have changed the tie.
Many were left wondering how the Portugal international got away with the error, and former Premier League referee Mark Halsey helped explain what happened.
speaks exclusively to caught sneaking About the incident, the former official explained:
“When you see the replay, you think Cancelo didn’t get the ball, he grabbed Correa by the leg; there are a lot of bodies in there and it’s hard for the referee to see.”
“Is this a clear and obvious error or is it subjective, is it a clear and obvious error of VAR intervention.”
“VAR should only intervene when it’s a clear and obvious error, and they obviously looked at that and thought to themselves that it wasn’t a clear and obvious error, which is why VAR did not recommend a review of that incident.”
Halsey also stated that the incident earlier in the match between Foden and Felipe was the root cause of all the chaos that followed.
Speaking of that incident, Halsey said, “If you don’t seal your power over those challenges, things could go wrong later in the game.”
“all of that [the chaos] It stems from that incident, as the referee did not catch Felipe early in the match.”
The referee on the night Daniel Seibert gave “didn’t have a really bad game” according to the former official, but the German simply lost control after the Felipe incident and struggled to regain control of the match, because it is “very difficult. To maintain control of this situation” when “Players lose their heads,” Halsey says.
Atlético will feel the hardship over this decision but their behavior at night will garner no sympathy, as Man City advance to face arch-rivals Real Madrid in the next round.
