Ireland fans were not happy.
Caomhin Kelleher gave Irish supporters their best moment so far under Heimir Hallgrimsson, with his heroic save for Ronaldo’s penalty during Ireland’s 1-0 loss to Portugal yesterday.
However, whether it should have been a penalty or not is up for debate, with a lot of fans arguing that the decision against Dara O’Shea was a shocker.
It did look harsh at the time, with ball seeming to hit the defender’s chest, and the fact that the referee was not asked by VAR to review his decision was inarguably wrong.
Speaking after the game, Man City’s Bernardo Silva touched on the incident, and while he admitted that he did not see it, he took a sympathetic view.
Speaking with RTÉ, he said: “I haven’t watched so I don’t know. Maybe it is quite soft, I don’t know.
“I would have to watch it again.
“I know that the defender from Ireland was saying that ‘it hit my chest, it hit my chest’.”
In the RTÉ studio, former Ireland stopper, Shay Given, was livid with the referee’s handling of the situation.
He remarked: “I am just absolutely gutted for the lads.
“The penalty decision was an absolute disgrace if you ask me… it was never a penalty. We have VAR for a reason – if the ref makes a clear and obvious error then go to VAR and overrule it.
“He could not blow the whistle quick enough to give him the penalty. Every decision went their way.
“I am going to sound bitter here but kind of angry as well because the shift the leads put in, Kelleher performs unbelievable.
“To concede in injury time is a kick in the teeth for everyone. It was night and day, the performance level, compared to the Armenia game… I felt they deserved a point, they really did.”
