Three out of four. Rayo has practically scored a penalty per game since he returned to the First Division. In addition, the referees have always marked them 0-0 on the scoreboard, something that has conditioned the future of the matches. So it was against Sevilla (3-0), Real Sociedad (1-0) and Levante (1-1), which has led to two defeats and a draw for the franjirrojos. It's more, their only victory this year corresponds precisely to the only match where they were not awarded a maximum penalty against. Yes in favor, since Trejo made the second from eleven meters. They thrashed Granada (4-0) and Dimitrievski left his clean sheet.
The first penalty they had to deal with came at the premiere of Pizjuán, when Luca Zidane measured badly and went wrong on a long pass from Diego Carlos to Idrissi, who he ended up grabbing after good first-touch control. Díaz de Mera not only indicated the maximum penalty for this grab, to try to avoid his shot at empty goal, but also decreed the expulsion of the Vallecano goalkeeper in the 15th minute.
“It is the norm. Sometimes it is better to let them mark because the punishment is too great. It is a reflex action and in the end the player has been ready. The game was mediated by the penalty play and the expulsion. Until then we were very well planted and we had had a very clear chance with Álvaro. As the minutes passed, with ten, it was more difficult for us to cover gaps, “Iraola said in this regard.
The second penalty was for Balliu's hand against Real Sociedad in 64 '. The San Sebastian team threw a corner, which Dimitrievski cleared and the play continued, but in Aihen's subsequent shot there was a hand from the rayista right back inside the area. Jaime Latre saw it clearly on the pitch and also showed him a yellow.
“Before they had thrown us several corners, a foul more or less followed … and the game goes away for a penalty. This is the second time that has happened to us in these two days and that they unbalance a match that we were doing well. You have to be careful inside the area because any detached arm is a penalty and the game goes away due to these minimal details“, lamented the technician in the press room of Anoeta.
More controversial has been the third in discord, in which the VAR intervened. The Levante players claimed a hand from Pathé Ciss and Alberola Rojas went to review said play on the monitor to finish signaling a penalty in the 36th minute. Something that outraged the franjirrojos, who asked for a prior foul on their player.
“The technical area here, in the Ciutat, is large and I have seen the same as the referee in the VAR. He does not see if there is a push or not, on camera they show him their hand and that's it. We all saw that, but look at the whole play to see what it is like and why that player reacts like that. Once you stop the game, you have to see everything“argued Iraola.