- Petkovic saw his goal disallowed after Ivan Perisic entered the penalty area
- Fans were confused that the punishment was given to him at all
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Croatian striker Bruno Petkovic had a late goal disallowed for infringement after he took a penalty in the 3-0 defeat to Spain in Euro 2024.
Petkovic had his penalty saved by Unai Simon but was assisted on the rebound by Ivan Perisic, but his teammate was penalized for entering the box early after a VAR check.
So Croatia were denied consolation on a miserable afternoon, where first-half goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal blew them away.
However, many fans did not believe the penalty had been awarded at all as it appeared Petkovic stumbled in front of a gaping goal.
Rodri was shown a yellow card for a foul on Petkovic a few meters from goal, but was not sent off due to the double jeopardy rule.
Croatia goal disallowed for infringement when Ivan Perisic was ruled to have entered the penalty area too early due to Bruno Petkovic’s penalty
Unai Simon saved Petkovic’s penalty, but Perisic tapped his teammate
Fans could hardly believe the penalty was given at all as close-ups appeared to show Petkovic stumbling
“How is that a punishment?!” wrote a fan on X, formerly Twitter.
“How the hell is that a punishment?” He fell in the grass,” wrote another.
“Can someone please explain to me how this punishment for Croatia stands?” one commented.
‘How could Croatia get a penalty from that? It was soiled by a blade of grass,” said another.
‘That’s not a punishment. That’s a dive. Furthermore, if it’s a penalty, how come it’s not red? Considering he was the last man standing?’ one commented.
Rodri was not shown a red card as it would have been double jeopardy to send him off the field and award a penalty.
The Football Law states: ‘If a player commits an offense against an opponent within his own penalty area which denies an opponent a clear goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty, the offender will be cautioned if the offense was an attempt to play the opponent . ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling, pushing, no opportunity to play the ball, etc.) the offending player must be sent off the field of play.’