A story of penalties… After its inaugural victory against the Comoros (2-0), Morocco shared the points with Mali (1-1), Friday on the occasion of the 2e day of the group stage of the African Cup of Nations.
The Atlas Lions opened the scoring with a penalty converted by Brahim Diaz just before the break (45th+5). A penalty awarded following a completely involuntary hand from Nathan Gassama that no one had seen at real speed.
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Returning from the locker room, the Eagles equalized, also from the penalty spot, after an obvious foul by Jawad El-Yamiq on Lassine Sinayoko and the intervention of the VAR. The Auxerre striker then took charge of the penalty (64th). The Malians could even have – should have? – obtain another penalty at the end of the match.
“The defender (Aguerd) clearly touches the ball with his hand”
Following a hand from Nayef Aguerd in the area, more or less resembling that of Nathan Gassama, the Cameroonian referee Abdou Abdel Mefire did not flinch. Neither does VAR. What the Malian coach deplored after the meeting. “ I saw the action again on television. The defender (Aguerd) clearly touches the ball with his hand. It’s disappointing that we didn’t get the penalty.”blasted Tom Saintfiet.
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Malian supporters were much more virulent against the decisions taken by the referees. “Aguerd also touches the ball with his hand, a steal this match”, “Aguerd goes under the net again… The hand was however in front of the referee…”, “You see Aguerd’s hand well that would be Morocco the referee would have whistled a penalty » or even « If you give penalty for Morocco on this action, you also give it for the Mali ! Catastrophic arbitration “, can we read in particular on X (formerly Twitter).
Another situation also raised eyebrows among Malian fans. Earlier in the match, Mahamadou Doumbia collapsed in the area after a collision with Sofyan Amrabat. But Abdou Abdel Mefire did not judge that the contact was sufficient to call a penalty, just like his assistants at VAR.
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