How is this *not* a penalty? Seriously, how?
Ireland need a win against Italy if their Euro 2016 campaign is going to continue into the knock out stages, but judging by the first half, they’re getting no favours from the referee.
As you might expect, the Italian defence has been pretty hands on (literally) when marking a set pieces, but it was a waved away penalty appeal that was the most contentious of decisions.
As the video below shows, James McClean was clearly felled as he gathered the ball in the Italian box, only for Romanian referee Ovidiu Haţegan to wave play on.
PENALTY!? Surely that should have been a spot-kick for Ireland! Ref not having it #ITAIRL https://t.co/2Styuq0dlS
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 22, 2016
Quite rightly, Irish supporters were raging at the decision.
They certainly weren’t alone, either.
Officiating has actually been pretty good (with some exceptions) in this tournament. Today in Lille it is not.
— Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) June 22, 2016
Terrible terrible refereeing, feel for #IRE there!! Ref has bottled it!
— Alex Taylor (@alex94wxm) June 22, 2016
The referee and linesman of the Ireland Vs Italy Euro2016 should go to Specsavers.Blatant penalty denied to Ireland
— PandaGaming4fun (@LGaming4fun) June 22, 2016
The Republic of Ireland is playing magnificent football. Sadly for them, for 45 mins the referee has been Italy's twelfth man. #EURO2016
— 𝓐𝓭𝓪𝓶 (@AdamWalkerGB) June 22, 2016
