Wrong Penalty Decision, Sterling Apologized to Shakhtar

DBasia.news – Manchester City are celebrating the half-dozen goals against their Ukrainian guest, Shakhtar Donetsk in the fourth Group F Champions League match. Unfortunately, the victory was disturbed by the unexpected penalty moment.

In their 1-0 situation, Manchester City got the penalty kick from referee Viktor Kassai. The referee pointed the white spot after Raheem Sterling fell on himself at 24′. Gabriel Jesus successfully executed the goal.

What made it more controversial, Sterling fell because his feet hit the floor, not by the opponent. However, the referee assumed Sterling was pushed by Mykola Matvyenko.

It’s obvious that Raheem Sterling was trying to kick the ball, but his feet stuck on the floor causing him to fall. Moreover, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola seemed to disagree with the referee’s decision.

“We realized it was not a penalty straight away. We don’t like to score a goal in that situation but (Sterling) didn’t realize. The referee at the end realized,” Guardiola said.

Regarding this case, Sterling didn’t do the diving. He fell but not due to the opponent’s tackle.

After the match, Sterling admitted that he got favored by the wrong decision of the referee and apologized.

“I went to chip the ball and don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel contact. I scuffed the ball. Apologies to the ref,” Sterling told BT Sport.