Miroslav Stupar: "The referee awarded both penalties against Malta fairly"

Miroslav Stupar, a well-known referee in the past, commented on the refereeing of the French team in the Ukraine vs Malta match (1-0).

- It should be clarified that the Maltese had no complaints about the first penalty. And not because Andriy Yarmolenko did not score. It's just that in that episode, the ball flying into the goal hit the elbow of the visitors' defender and they should be punished with an 11-metre penalty.

As for the second episode, everything was also obvious: the Maltese player put his foot out, which got in the way of the aforementioned Yarmolenko's approach to the goal. So, the French referee made the right decisions. After all, the VAR system was in place for the match in Trnava, and if something had gone against the law, adjustments would have been made promptly. As, by the way, was the case when the first penalty was awarded.

In my opinion, the French team coped well with their duties. Yes, there were some minor mistakes, in particular, several fouls by the Maltese on the active Viktor Tsygankov went unnoticed, but they did not significantly affect the course of the confrontation," the expert is sure.