The first day of the Champions’ Play-Offs is over. And as expected, that was accompanied by some questionable decisions by the arbitration. This was also the case on Monday afternoon in the derby between Cercle Brugge and Club Brugge (1-1).
On Saturday evening there was already a lot to do about the exclusion of Owen Wijndal in the match between Anderlecht and Antwerp (1-0). On Monday evening, Christian Burgess’ late red card caused quite a stir after the top match between KRC Genk and Union SG (1-0).
But some incidents also took place in the Bruges derby. For example, Brandon Mechele was lucky that referee Erik Lambrechts solved a problem with Kévin Denkey without cards. Although the phase could have ended differently if Denkey dropped.
Questionable free kick
In addition, Club was also awarded a penalty by Lambrechts in the second period for alleged handball. Fortunately, the VAR was alert and the decision was rightly corrected to a free kick, which was aimed at the crossbar by Hans Vanaken.
According to analyst Filip Joos, even that free kick should not have fallen. The match management decided to intervene due to hands from Boris Popovic. But the replay clearly showed how the Cercle defender could do nothing at all about the contact.
Never hands
Joos therefore thinks it is a big mistake that a stationary phase was given after all. “It doesn’t matter here whether it is inside or outside the box, dear refs. It is simply never a handball. You should never blow the whistle for this and it has happened for the umpteenth time. The picture is clear: the ball first deviates and then arrives differently against Popovic’s head. And he also makes a supernatural movement,” said the analyst Extra Time.
