Referee Espinoza and his show of provocations in Atlético Tucumán-San Lorenzo: red card every minute, three sent off and mobile phone thrown from the stands

The arbitration of Fernando Espinoza In Atletico Tucumán AND Saint Lawrence it can go straight to Guinness… but what not to do. because referee He may be right or wrong in his mistakes, but those of Espinoza, with his gestures and attitudes, served to stiffen an atmosphere that was about to escalate into a scandal, with the players of the home team eliminated and the public throwing shells on the field of game. camp including a cell phone.

The game had just begun, as soon as a handful of players made contact with the ball and in attack, the first of the game, the Tucuman crowd roared for a penalty that Espinoza missed. The play, which in the replay does not appear to be an infringement, sees Guillermo Acosta fall in front of Maicon Braida’s marking.

Once the game was over and the clock had just struck the first minute of the game, the referee had an unexpected reaction: instead of running into the penalty area, he ran towards the substitutes’ bench with the red card in his hand. The recipient was Lucas Pusineri and Espinoza turned to explain the unequivocal reasons: he put his fingers to his mouth to publicly demonstrate that the DT had passed a certain consideration towards him.

“Go ahead because I’ll take you out with the police”, Espinoza reacted incredibly to Pusineri’s request for explanations, who repeated: “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it”. What did the referee hear? Difficult to know, impossible to distinguish on a practically full football field. Meanwhile, Espinoza put two fingers on his shoulder to refer to the presence of the police, demanding that the former Independiente be removed from the place.

Espinoza waited for Pusineri to retire and the match was stopped for practically the same amount of time that had elapsed since the initial whistle: one minute and 7 seconds. Unusual.

But the match continued, San Lorenzo going 2-0 up and Atlético Tucumán reaching the discount after a controversial play. Acosta’s shot was deflected by Romero but there was a forward-positioned player who seemed to obstruct goalkeeper Batalla’s view. The VAR suggested Espinoza review the play on the monitor but he maintained his criteria, perhaps knowing he had been too harsh with Pusineri.

The famous law of compensation, an evil that affects arbitration here and there. That same rule that a few minutes later, in the 42nd minute, led the VAR to call Espinoza to see a foul that he had omitted, a jab by Maestro Puch that the referee ended up punishing with a red card. That decision exasperated everyone, including Guillermo Acosta, who argued with the judge and insulted him until he saw the red card.

Two expulsions in one minute, with Pusineri returning from the locker room to maintain confrontation with Espinoza and the public throwing their mobile phone that went viral but also a few stones. A San Lorenzo assistant fell to the ground following these attacks and the match continued to be played.

If Espinoza missed something, it was to argue with the police: he badly got rid of the arm of a policeman who was trying to protect him from assaults from the stands.

The start of the second half was much the same, with another decision difficult to justify without thinking about compensation. Gastón Hernández contested a ball with Renzo Tesuri and the judge concocted an infringement and the red card to the Barcelona defender.