Atlético took a golden victory in the league duel against RCD Mallorca, with a better record at Son Moix. The team managed by Diego Pablo Simeone went into the break in good form, with several victories in a row. This way, they can adequately prepare for their next commitments, which are very demanding.
The goal by Julián Alvarez, who took advantage of a great play by Giuliano Simeone, was the protagonist. 'La Araña' bit again, redeeming himself and proving that he deserves to have more minutes in the starting eleven. However, not everything was so positive, since the red and white squad complained about a controversial action that led to this goal.
Lenglet in the Spotlight for Controversial Action
In this case, the protagonist was Clément Lenglet, who continues to gain experience at Atlético de Madrid. The French defender repeatedly grabbed Cyle Larin, earning a yellow card, something very risky. For this reason, Jagoba Arrasate 's men showed their anger to the referee, who didn't whistle a foul and didn't show him a red card.
The fact that he blew the whistle for a foul and didn't get a second yellow card was a circumstance that wasn't understood by anyone at Mallorca. The local protests were high, to the point that Samu Costa, a target for Atlético de Madrid, was shown a yellow card. As usual, Mateu Lahoz, the referee's commentator, made an appearance on the COPE channel.
Mateu Lahoz analyzes the controversial action between Mallorca and Atlético de Madrid
The former referee was in charge of analyzing this action, which could have changed the course of the Mallorca – Atlético de Madrid game. "In this case it was obvious, I wanted to create it, manage it. It happens a lot in refereeing, after a Clásico when things fortunately go well," he said.
“That's why I say that they are lying when they say that for the CTA and the RFEF the Clásicos are no different. For the referees it's, because today I see José María (Sánchez Martínez, the referee of the match in Son Moix), too relaxed.” Thus, Mateu Lahoz, sometimes critical of the committee, made clear his position on the controversial action in the Balearic Islands.
Mateu Lahoz analyzes Koke's possible penalty on Samu Costa
Precisely, Samu Costa, who is on the radar of Atlético de Madrid, was the protagonist of a possible penalty in favor of Mallorca. In this case, it was Koke who committed the alleged infringement on the Portuguese player. Logically, Mateu Lahoz, a former international, valued the play, which could also have changed the course of the match.
In his opinion, Koke “risked a lot, he should never do that”, but at the same time he defended the role of the referee. From his point of view, “since he caught him well, he understood that this contact wasn't enough to whistle a penalty”. Questioned directly about his assessment of Sánchez Martínez 's performance, he was clear.
“I should have been as lenient with Samu as I was with Lenglet because he has the tools to do so.” He also criticized the seconds in which both teams had to wait for the VAR to announce if there was any controversial action. “They are absurd endings, they know that nothing has happened and there are a few seconds that are not part of soccer.”