Real Madrid had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee in Saturday’s narrow victory over Elche in La Liga.
Zinedine Zidane refused to get involved in Real Madrid’s latest penalty controversy, but the manager does want to see his side score earlier in games.
A late Karim Benzema brace sealed Los Blancos a 2-1 comeback win over Elche on Saturday evening. The Frenchman scored both his goals in the final 17 minutes, including an injury-time penalty winner.
But while the scoreline was still level at 0-0 in the second-half, Elche midfielder Ivan Marcone appeared to force Sergio Ramos to the ground inside the box.
La Liga ~ min 53 Real Madrid asking for a penalty against Elche after Ramos fall inside the box.
Referee decided its foul on Ramos & VAR confirmed it. pic.twitter.com/C5AKSYiZex
— VAR watch (@WatchVar) March 13, 2021
The referee, however, awarded Elche a free-kick instead – much to Ramos’ fury at the time.
“That’s an issue I don’t get involved in,” said Zidane in his post-match conference on Saturday. “The referee does his job and we try to do ours, that’s all there is to it.
“I saw the move, we thought there was something there, but the referee thought otherwise and that’s that.”
After a goalless opening period, Dani Calvo almost made Real Madrid pay by scoring the first goal for Elche. But Benzema, as he did against Atletico Madrid last weekend, came to the rescue again. The club’s top-scorer took his tally for the season up to 20 goals in all competitions with a late brace.
“I like the character the team is showing but I would prefer that we scored earlier,” Zidane said on the comeback. “I like games to be more relaxed.
“This team has character, we are still alive in two competitions and we will keep fighting hard and believing in ourselves.”
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