Croatia denied ‘clearest penalty you will see’ by VAR during Morocco World Cup clash | Football | Sport
Croatia were left fuming after they were denied a penalty in the second half of the World Cup third place play-off against Morocco on Saturday. Defender Josko Gvardiol was convinced he was fouled by Sofyan Amrabat in the Croatia 18-yard box but VAR did not overturn the decision.
The score was 2-1 to the Croatians at the time of the incident after first-half goals from Gvardiol and Mislav Orsic. Morocco had equalised through Achraf Dari before Orsic restored Croatia’s lead just before half-time with a stunning curling effort.
Having already found the net, centre-back Gvardiol looked set to make it a brace with just under 20 minutes of normal time remaining. However, as he was about to pull the trigger when through on goal, he went down under a challenge from the impressive Amrabat.
Referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim waved away Gvardiol’s vociferous claims of a spot-kick. VAR looked at the incident but did not recommend Al-Jassim to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, despite replays showing Gvardiol was clearly caught.
BBC commentator Steve Wilson was alongside ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy in the gantry. And Wilson described it as one of the clearest penalties he has seen not given.
Transfer news LIVE: Man Utd ready £43m bid, Mudryk to Arsenal, Chelsea deal
Murphy responded: “100 per cent agree. Do you know why he didn’t give it? Because when he put his foot down he tried to go on another yard and then he went over. Maybe that is the reason.
“But it is a foul, it’s enough of a foul. If he had been more elaborate he would have got the penalty. But I agree with you, penalty.”
Croatia weren’t punished further, as they held on for a 2-1 win despite late pressure from Morocco. Croatia finish third in Qatar ahead of Sunday’s final between Argentina and France.
Want the latest Premier League news as we publish it on Express Sport? Join our new Facebook group by clicking here
