OM: everyone in Lens is still crying about the arbitration scandal!

After a solid success against FC Nantes (3-2), the Racing Club de Lens welcomed Olympique de Marseille this Saturday afternoon, on the lawn of the Félix-Bollaert stadium, during the 12th day of Ligue 1. Sang et Or hoped to achieve a success to continue their rise in the ranking in order to put pressure on the direct competitors at the top of the table, including the Phocéens of Roberto De Zerbi whom they faced Today. After a first period largely dominated by the locals, it was the Marseille troops who completely succeeded in turning the match around, first in the wake of Valentin Rongier, before Luis Henrique doubled the lead a few minutes later. With their backs to the wall, Lens managed to come back to the score thanks to Angelo Fulgini. As the end of the meeting approaches, a contentious sequence is the subject of debate.

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Lensois' equalizing goal was finally canceled for a recovery foul on Bilal Nadir. With the help of VAR, the referee Mr. Eric Wattellier returned to the fault, offering a well-placed free kick to OM which Pierre-Emile Højbjerg transformed to triple the lead. A massive blow for the Sang et Or who believed, a few seconds earlier, to have reset the counters to zero with Rémy Labeau Lascary: “It's hard because we had a very good first half. On the whole of the first, we must lead. Second, we give in and they were effective. They were able to start the second half better than us. Despite that, we still have the mindset to come back to the score. But the referee decided otherwise, it's part of the game», assured Florent Sotoca at the microphone of beIN Sports at the final whistle. An impression which was widely shared by other protagonists of RC Lens including the coach and the general director.

Rant Pierre Dréossi!

This action has not finished getting people talking. While the meetings against LOSC and Strasbourg had already caused a lot of ink to flow, the Lens management, represented by Pierre Dréossi, wanted to bang their fist on the table. Rare enough to be underlined, the general director of Sang et Or went to the Mixite zone in front of journalists to openly criticize the refereeing suffered by his team: “We've had frustration for a while because I still remember the Lille victory, the penalty in Strasbourg, and today I have the impression that every time the we score a goal or there is a contentious action, we were scared to death of the VAR. I want to say stop, we can't take points like that from us and say nothing. I'm not upset, but I think the score tonight is 2-2. I think that against Lille, the score is 0-0. We ask ourselves a lot of questions. When we score goals, I would like us to respect the goals we score“, he said in the mixed zone.

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But he didn't stop there. Pierre Dréossi continued to criticize the refereeing decisions of the day which, according to him, would explain the Lensois setback at home this Saturday evening: “It's nothing to cry about, but it's been a lot since the start of the season. And I think that tonight, once again, once again, one more time too many, I'm not saying that there is no foul when the referee returns to the foul, but there was a lot of fouls that weren't called. There were fouls called and the interpretations are unfortunately often controversial. I don't know what's going on, but in any case, it's clear that it's a sensation that is very, very unpleasant. Being fair is good. Being nice is good. But at some point you have to know how to say stop. And then I'm going to say stop“, he continued. The message got through.

The Still brothers are also angry

The main theme of the post-match, the refereeing was widely criticized by members of the RC Lens staff, starting with Edward Still, brother and assistant of Will Still: “This end of match situation which is strange. Strange because at the time the referee, who let the whole match play and allowed a pleasant match, said to himself that there was no fault. It's quite a long time later, it's 90 yards away and that's what he had been doing all game. It's a shame. Where will VAR stop? Because 5 seconds before that, I had the impression that there was a Marseille foul. It's frustrating because the players deserved the 2-2 and everything was possible after that“, he said. Moreover, the Belgian chief tactician was also questioned by the referee a few minutes later at a press conference.

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«The canceled goal? The foul is two meters from the referee and he does not whistle. That's a lot, before that there was a handball from Adrien Rabiot on a shot into the area. I'm told that at half-time, there was a mess in the tunnel to put pressure on the dugout, and in the second half… There are things that aren't clear, things that aren't clear, and that happens often. . As a football supporter, the referee has an important role to play and today it's difficult not to talk about refereeing when it's equalized and it's 2-2. An arbitration problem? I'll let you decide», concluded Will Still. The Lensois are going to have a bad end to the weekend.