October 29, (THEWILL) – In a tense encounter that ended two all, a late penalty following a contentious VAR ruling cost Atletico Madrid the win away at Levante.
When VAR picked up the tiniest of handballs in the six-yard area, Bardhi stroked home his second penalty of the game.
Antoine Griezmann had given Atletico Madrid an early lead. He took a terrible corner, but Felipe cushioned a header across the face of goal, and the Frenchman converted comfortably at the back post.
After scoring, the away side appeared to lose their stride, with the intensity that had characterised the opening of the first half giving wayp to scrappy defending.
Luis Suarez failed to clear and then found a set of legs between him and the ball in the 36th minute and despite Suarez’s pleas to the referee for an infringement on him, Levante regained parity. On his comeback after a two-month layoff, Enis Bardhi blasted home the penalty to level the scores.
Rodrigo de Paul’s rare moment of incision in midfield saw him pass a ball through to the sub, Cunha, in the Levante area, and, when the ball hit the back of the net with a rapid sweep, Atletico felt they had done enough to win it.
Although they needed more goals, the defending champions’ front three appeared disjointed, and a succession of substitutions all but spelled out Atletico boss Diego Simeone’s opinions on the team’s performance.
Refereeing decisions were once again contentious, and Atletico will be irritated that VAR determined that a hard cross from close range had brushed an arm in the box, enough to merit the hosts the chance to earn a point from the encounter.
After the final whistle, Rober Pier received a yellow card for announcing that the referee had blown the whistle early. When the whistle blew, Levante were breaking, as they had been in the first half.
It was exactly the right amount of spice in a game that was already tense. Atletico manager Simeone also lost his cool and was sent to the stands by the referee in the 81st minute with a second yellow card for protesting the refereeing.
The team from Valencia is winless after 11 games, but with this kind of performance against the reigning champions, that is likely to change soon. New manager Javier Pereira, instated after Paco Lopez became the first managerial casualty of the season, is already under pressure.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
