Real Mallorca are furious after they were denied what they felt to be a clear penalty in the closing stages against Espanyol on Friday night.
In the 88th minute, Angel Rodriguez went down in the box and it seemed as if he was fouled. However no penalty was given and there appeared to be no VAR review – the referee was not brought over to the sideline to look at the incident either.
Esto del VAR no lo entiende nadie ya pic.twitter.com/hPHnvYohyT
— 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊 (@CasPerdut) October 28, 2022
The match would finish level on the scoreline (1-1), but Mallorca would see red twice in the aftermath.
The Mallorca Twitter account put out two tweets related to the incident, first simply saying ‘Var?’ and then ‘Another night without sleep’ following the match. In the morning, still indignant, Mallorca again tweeted ‘Conclusion: VAR did not come for this…”
Conclusión: el VAR no vino para esto…
— Real Mallorca (@RCD_Mallorca) October 29, 2022
Manager Javier Aguirre was sent off for protesting ‘in a continuous manner’ afterwards, while Pablo Maffeo, who was on the bench, was also sent off for telling the referee ‘This is a f****** disgrace.’
After the match, Angel spoke to Marca.
“I think the only one who hasn’t seen the penalty is the referee. I insisted that he went to VAR. At no point did he want to go. He threatened to send me off. If you are so convinced, you think that he has to have some reason for it. Then I see the images and there is no doubt. Something’s not right. These things happen every weekend.”
💥 OFICIAL | Acta arbitral del @RCD_Mallorca – @RCDEspanyol
🟥 @pablomaffeo ha sido expulsado por decirle al árbitro: "ES UNA P*** VERGÜENZA"
🟥 Javier Aguirre por protestar "de forma reiterada"
☄️ El colegiado también denuncia lanzamiento de objetos
📻 #PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/Z8eI4b9Khm
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) October 28, 2022
Aguirre also had his say on the matter, to Marca.
“The referee sees it. He judges it and it’s a corner.”
“I continue to believe in VAR, the doubt is over who is managing it.”
That in essence is the problem. Even though technology is now involved, the decisions are still being made by humans.
