Paris (dpa)
Paris Saint-Germain football director Leonardo criticized the officials following the 3-1 loss at Nantes on Saturday evening in the French Football League, noting that referee Michael Lesage’s decisions were in the interest of the hosts, which caused his team to suffer its second defeat this season.
Saint-Germain conceded three goals in the first half of the match, in which each team received a penalty kick.
Ludovic Blass scored the third goal for Nantes from a penalty kick in the last seconds of the first half, and Brazilian Neymar missed a penalty kick for PSG in the second half.
The first half witnessed the expulsion of the referee, Dennis Appiah, Nantes defender, before reversing the decision following returning to the VAR technique.
Leonardo told “Canal +” television that the French league officials did not perform their duties well, expressing at the same time his anger at the refereeing staff for the confrontation once morest Nantes.
He added, “It was a difficult match for us, following playing a match in the Champions League, we knew that we were going to lose following we deservedly conceded two goals.”
He said: “But following that, all the referees’ choices were once morest us. He declared one minute added time in the first half, but the penalty kick awarded to Nantes came in the fourth minute of overtime.”
He continued, “I think there was a rush to blow the whistle to calculate errors once morest us, and then Appiah gave a penalty kick, but the referee did not issue the player’s second yellow card.”
