A radical decision and a lot of misunderstanding. While he has just blocked Marquinhos‘ lower abdomen with a raised foot, Amine Harit is sent off by François Letexier after only 22 minutes of play this Sunday, during the OM-PSG clash of the 9th day of Ligue 1 .
The Marseillais contests, convinced of not having committed a gross error since he did not see the Parisian captain arrive in his blind spot and does not seem to understand what is happening to him from the moment the referee presents him with the card. red. If the images seem to go his way and show that apart from an obvious foul, the gesture is not as dangerous as it appears at real speed, the VAR does not call on the referee to delight. He therefore confirms his initial choice and pushes the Classic into an already very present overdomination.
A twist of fate that OM really didn’t need… “I didn’t see the mistake and I didn’t look. It’s a fact of the game and good for us, it allowed us to have ten men and for us to dominate this match even more, reacts Warren Zaire-Emery, in the mixed zone. We saw that even at 11 we were good, we were concentrated, we made them run. We were able to create chances so I don’t think it would have changed anything. »
“From the start we were better than them”
The facts prove him right. Largely dominant from the first minutes, Luis Enrique’s men did not wait for Harit’s expulsion to enter their match. In front after just 7 minutes, thanks to the first goal in the red and blue colors of Joao Neves, Paris was able to impose immediate pressure and put itself in the best position to attack this shock.
“We knew how to take advantage of this red card. It’s football. But I think that from the start of the match and until they received the red, we were better than them,” Neves rightly analyzes, excellent this Sunday evening. Luis Enrique goes even further and highlights the good attitude of his men from start to finish: “We started the match very well from the first minute, we recovered the ball very high. After the expulsion, the match was more closed for them but we could have relaxed and, no, the team continued.
“We didn’t start as we wanted”
The pill is struggling to pass on the Marseille side and Roberto De Zerbi’s reaction at the press conference says everything about the injustice he feels he has suffered apart from the insipid match produced by his team. “The red? It’s up to you to judge… But, if the referee sends him off because he saw the marks on the ribs (of Marquinhos), it’s insane! When there is a headbutt between two players and one of them splits his head open, are we necessarily going to bring out a red? That’s not football. But I’m not going to say more, I wouldn’t want to be sanctioned…”
Alongside the Italian’s bitterness, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg appeared dejected and did not intend to hide behind this decision to explain OM’s disastrous performance: “A red card doesn’t help at all. Especially against a team like PSG who control the ball well. But I find that, even at the start of the match, we didn’t start as we wanted. We didn’t play like we trained this week. It is up to us to take responsibility and question ourselves. »
“The consequence of the gesture obliges me to exclude Harit”
Questioned by DAZN, referee François Letexier did not shy away when explaining his choice in front of the microphone: “I see Harit arriving with his leg stretched out on the opponent’s chest. Marquinhos takes off his jersey and I see this mark. The consequence of the gesture forces me to exclude Harit. I judge the physical integrity of the player. The VAR looked at the situation. She does not consider that my decision is a clear error and judges that it deserves a red card. In the freeze frame, we clearly see the contact of the sole on the torso. »
Enough to put an end to the debate? Probably not, but this year again there was only one team on the field. And this team was in blue and red. A cut above on all levels, even at equal strength.
