“They can suspend me if they want”, Knockaert upset with refereeing after VAFC defeat

If OL clearly beat Valenciennes (3-0) in the Coupe de France semi-final on Tuesday evening, the meeting was marked by several controversial refereeing decisions at 0-0. Enough to anger VAFC striker Anthony Knockaert after the match.

eyes red. Disappointment, frustration and a bit of anger, it seems. OL beat Valenciennes (3-0) in the Coupe de France semi-final on Tuesday evening, after the match was marked by several controversial refereeing decisions at 0-0. Notably, goals were denied to Douquer and Valenciennes (38th) for a foul by Knockaart early in the action, and then the penalty was awarded to Lacazette and Lyonnais early in the second half (48th), to open the scoring.

Also, after the meeting, it was an angry Anthony Knockaert who appeared on the microphone of broadcaster BeIN Sports. “Words are hard to find. We had a first half that matched everything but the bottom of Ligue 2. I’m proud of the players and everyone. It’s difficult. I thought we were going to do it,” he said earlier. .

>>> Bring OL-Valenciennes back to life

“They should be asking themselves questions at the refereeing level”

Before moving on to Stephanie Frappert’s decisions: “Penalty, I haven’t seen the images but it looks very light to me. I do the same thing a minute ago, I throw myself at the defender, and it doesn’t whistle. It In our area, he whistles. Is it because it’s a big club? I don’t know. I’m weighing my words. They can suspend me if they want, I don’t mind because It is difficult. It is difficult to accept when you are last in Ligue 2 and you see such a view of the match.” And to conclude: “They should ask themselves questions, I think, at the level of arbitration.”

Appearing at a press conference a few minutes later, his trainer Ahmed Kantari was less intense, but got his message across. “You know my opinion,” the technician slipped. “We scored a goal (unacceptable), there was no fault. They scored a penalty when it was Lacazette who flung himself on my defender… I don’t want to knock on the refereeing, everyone will do their responsibilities. , but “When we played the first half, we told ourselves that this fact of the game weighs a lot in the balance. But I don’t want to let anger get the better of me. Instead, I want to keep some dignity.”

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