Benfica criticizes the refereeing in the first match of the final against Porto

Club da Luz reported a foul (9) that was poorly awarded against its team and two penalty kicks that were not awarded in its favor.

Benfica criticized the refereeing of the match against Porto, the first play-off final of the national championship, at the Dragao Arena on Sunday, which the Reds lost 5-3 after extra time.

In a statement published on social media, which includes two videos, FC Luz protests against the refereeing of the moves, which they consider to be poorly judged and which were not reviewed by VAR: a foul (9) that was poorly pointed out against their team and two penalty kicks that were not awarded in their favour.

Benfica's full statement:

«Today, after Benfica made it 2-3 in the first part of extra time of the first game of the National Hockey Championship final, in just 38 seconds, the refereeing team awarded two team fouls, allowing FC Porto to reach the tenth foul in their favor and they had a clear chance. To score from a direct free kick.

“This is not the first time this has happened at the Dragao Arena – it is worth remembering what happened to Benfica in 21/22 – it is required that the better team win there as well, which was clearly Benfica.”

“There are pictures of the ninth foul committed against the athlete Pablo Alvarez, and other clear, unmarked penalty kicks in favor of Benfica have also been highlighted.”

“This is a final match that includes a video review system, and it is expected to help the referee teams avoid errors related to the final result.”