Croatia striker Bruno Petkovic had a late goal ruled out for encroachment after taking a penalty in a 3-0 Euro 2024 defeat by Spain.
Petkovic had seen his spot-kick saved by Unai Simon but was assisted by Ivan Perisic for the rebound, but his team-mate was penalised for entering the box early after a VAR check.
Croatia were thus denied a consolation on a miserable afternoon where first-half goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz, and Dani Carvajal blew them away.
However, many fans were in disbelief that the penalty had been awarded in the first place because it appeared that Petkovic tripped up in front of a gaping goal.
Rodri was handed a yellow card for fouling Petkovic metres from goal – but was not given a red due to the double jeopardy rule.
Croatia had a goal ruled out for encroachment when Ivan perisic was judged to have entered the area early for Bruno Petkovic’s penalty
Unai Simon saved Petkovic’s penalty but Perisic then teed up his team-mate for a tap-in
Fans could hardly believe that the penalty was given in the first place as close-up shots appeared to show Petkovic tripping up
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‘How is that a penalty?!’ wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.
‘How on earth is that a penalty? He fell over on the grass,’ another wrote.
‘Can somebody PLEASE explain to me how that Croatia penalty stands?’ one commented.
‘How has Croatia got a penalty out of that? He was fouled by a blade of grass,’ said another.
‘That’s not a penalty. That’s a dive. Moreover, if it’s a penalty, how come it’s not a red? Considering he was the last man?’ one commented.
Rodri was not given a red card because it would have been double jeopardy to send him off as well as award a penalty.
Football law states: ‘Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off.’
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