Two penalty calls from Ligue 1’s fifth round have been reviewed, and the verdict changes little on the pitch while sharpening the debate around it. The refereeing department has ruled that Lens should have been awarded a spot-kick at Monaco, while Marseille were correctly denied one against Paris Saint-Germain.
Lens denied a penalty at Monaco
Monaco’s 2-1 home win over Lens on Friday contained the decision judged incorrect by the refereeing authorities. In the 18th minute, Lens midfielder Michaël Cuisance collected the ball inside the Monaco area and struck towards goal. His effort was blocked by the arm of Monaco defender Sadibou Sané.
Clément Turpin, with the support of the VAR team, allowed play to continue and did not award a penalty. The weekly review concluded that this was the wrong outcome.
The assessment found that Sané’s arm was positioned in a way that enlarged the space covered by his body. By holding his arm there, the defender accepted the risk of making contact with the ball and being penalised, the review said.
Eric Dier may have touched the ball with his leg before it reached Sané’s arm, but that did not remove the offence under Law 12. The refereeing department’s conclusion was clear: Lens should have received a penalty.
Letexier’s decision upheld in Le Classique
The same review backed François Letexier’s handling of Marseille’s 2-1 defeat to PSG. Marseille appealed for a penalty in the 38th minute after Amine Gouiri went down following a challenge involving Désiré Doué.
The authorities considered that Gouiri had already begun to lose his balance forwards before the contact. Doué, meanwhile, moved his right leg across the Marseille attacker and succeeded in getting a touch on the ball.
That touch, combined with the nature of the collision, meant the contact alone could not be treated as a foul. The decision not to point to the spot at the Stade Vélodrome was therefore judged to have been the correct one.
