‘Alexandre Lacazette impaled himself on my defender’ – Ahmed Kantari criticises refereeing decisions as VAFC lose semi-final to Lyon

Valenciennes head coach Ahmed Kantari has criticised the refereeing in his side’s Coupe de France semi-final loss to Olympique Lyonnais , pointing to two decisions that he believes were mistakes that cost his side the game. 

In the first half, VAFC had a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up, as Anthony Knoackaert (32) was penalised for a tackle on Jake O’Brien (22), while in the second half, Alexandre Lacazette (32) was pulled down in the area and rewarded with a penalty for Lyon. 

Kantari believes that his side was unfairly punished in both of these decisions by the referee and that ultimately this worked to undo the strong performances that his underdog side demonstrated in the first half, as a second-period collapse left the club exiting the competition to a 3-0 scoreline. 

“ We scored a goal, there was no foul, clearly, ” Kantari stated. “ They scored a goal from a penalty when it was Lacazette who impaled himself on my defender. I’m not going to knock the refereeing, everyone will have their own opinion. ”

The head coach continued, “ I don’t want to let anger overwhelm me, rather pride in what my players offered tactically, technically, and in effort . In the first half, we created chances, and we put this Lyon team under pressure. We’re talking about a team on a good run of victories, with a lot of quality and €56 million in recruitment in January. We’re last in Ligue 2 but the players were able to respond to an event like that .” 

The Coupe de France had been the lifeline for VAFC in a grim season. The club are destined to drop down into the third tier of French football as 18 points separate them and safety with only eight games remaining. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland