The “penaltitos” of Espanyol

“That it can’t be a penalty in life”, he was indignant Fernando Calero, its supposed author. And his coach went to the root of the problem, Vincent Moreno: “We talked a lot during the season that the idea was that the penalties were not going to be awarded, it is not even that, there is nothing”. They were referring to the maximum sentence that this past Monday, in the minute 94 of Real Sociedad-Espanyol, led to a perica defeat by 1-0. A possible takedown of the center back on Mikel Merino, which could also be considered a charge. Even before Calero played the ball.

In the locker room, and by extension in the club, there is a some annoyance because it is not the first time that the script is repeated. Three penalties have been pointed against Espanyol this season, and all have raised the same suspicion. They denounce from the staff that in the talks he gave them last summer Carlos Velasco Carballothe then president of Referees Technical Committee (CTA) emphasized that Such rigorous and interpretable actions would not be sanctioned like the one that took place on Monday in Anoeta.

A criterion that they feel has been shaped, especially when In that same match, a much more visible takedown in the realistic area, by Robin Le Normand on Loren Morón, was missed.because the referee himself, Santiago Jaime Latre, considered it “light”, as he himself told the Espanyol striker on his way out of the locker room tunnel after the break.

So rigorous was Loren’s action this past meeting as Leandro Cabrera’s penalty on Memphis Depay in Barcelona-Espanyol of the first round at the Camp Nou, which ended 1-0 as a result of that maximum penalty. Or the hand, in a natural position and close to the body, Aleix Vidal in the infraction with which Borja Iglesias tied for Betis in Cornellà at the start of their resounding comeback (1-4). A controversial decision that directly generated anger in the club when the following day was not sanctioned a hand exactly the same as Mikel Balenziaga in Athletic-Espanyol (2-1).

On that occasion, Espanyol did use social networks to ironize about the arbitration criteria -of the CTA and, therefore, of the Federation, of which it is a dependent body-, but the rest of the season has preferred to express its inside door malaise. The big question now being formulated by the environment is who will lead this type of complaints, since José María Duránknown by the estates by virtue of his two stages in the parakeet club plus his time in Getafe and Mallorca, he stepped down last week from being the CEO. It’s the turn of the new CEO, Mao Ye.