Ref cam footage reveals why Lille's added-time complaints after the PSG draw don't hold up. Audio explains the decision.
Exclusive broadcaster of the French championship, Ligue 1+, released a video Sunday night featuring images and audio from the "ref cam" of referee Eric Wattellier, who officiated Friday night's Lille vs. PSG (2-2).
Enough to better understand his management of added time and put an end to the controversy launched by some Lille players.
As at Rennes a few days earlier, PSG was trailing by two goals at Lille on Friday night in the opening match of Ligue 1 Matchday 2 before eventually equalising, this time scoring two goals in added time through Vitinha, with a superb left-footed strike, and Marquinhos, with a header.
The Portuguese scored when the clock showed 90 minutes and 4 seconds, while the Brazilian captain equalised after 94 minutes and 10 seconds. The added time was 3 minutes, and several Lille figures cried scandal after the match, including Olivier Létang in the mixed zone and Benjamin André after the match.
But match referee Eric Wattellier was equipped with a microphone and the famous "ref cam," and a document released Sunday night by Ligue 1+ helps explain how he managed added time.
The referee, for example, warned Lille's goalkeeper, who was on the ground, that he would add an extra minute if he didn't get up quickly, and he eventually did.
Above all, the referee explained to Lille goalscorer Dilane Bakwa at the end of the match that he had added an extra minute because of Vitinha's goal in added time, extending stoppage time to 4 minutes instead of 3, and that this added time was a "minimum" duration.
Although Lille players can fume over the extra 10 seconds, the corner from Kvaratskhelia that led to Marquinhos' goal was taken at 93 minutes and 59 seconds, and a Lille player (Romain Perraud) had tried to waste time a few seconds earlier, receiving a yellow card and giving the referee a good reason to let the Parisian corner play out.
Lille coach Davide Ancelotti was, in fact, more gracious than his president after the match: "The time announced was three minutes; we played four... Yes, the referee could have blown the whistle a little earlier, but it remains a small detail; it's not a big mistake, and I think it's not necessarily the right time to talk about the refereeing, nor the right place."
