Nantes coach Jocelyn Gourvennec regretted Sunday “incomprehensible” refereeing choices during his team’s 2-0 defeat in Marseille, citing “two obvious penalties.”
“We are very disappointed because we had a very good match, especially in the second half. By being led, we reacted and regained momentum and enthusiasm. We would have deserved to come back to the score,” Gourvennec initially estimated.
“If we didn’t succeed, it’s firstly because we weren’t skillful enough. But we were refused two obvious penalties, one on Moses Simon in the first period who was stepped on and especially the quadruple hand in the second period,” he added.
“We have to say things. It is incomprehensible that the VAR does not call (the referee) Mr. Letexier, because Pape Gueye is not in a natural position,” he added.
In the 50th minute of the match, in a confused action, three Marseille players (Meïté, Mbemba and Gueye) seemed to touch the ball with their hands, each time with their arms fairly close to their bodies. The referee did not whistle a penalty and his video assistants did not invite him to review the images.
“I played here and I know that on small disputes, we were happy. There, it’s difficult to explain,” said Gourvennec.
“The trouble arises from many situations which give rise to debate, on contentious images. One time they will see, one time no, one time they think there is a hand, one time no. It creates frustration,” added the Nantes coach.
“I barely spoke to the referee from afar and he gave me a yellow. It’s scandalous. If they can’t understand that there can be a little irritation… They’re doing this to give themselves pseudo-authority, it’s not good. We had plenty of matches with incomprehensible decisions, I have to talk about it,” he concluded.