Saint-Germain opens fire on the referee of the Nantes match

Paris (dpa)
Paris Saint-Germain football director Leonardo criticized the officials after the 3-1 loss at Nantes on Saturday evening in the French Football League, noting that referee Michael Lesage’s decisions were in the interest of the hosts, which caused his team to suffer its second defeat this season.
Saint-Germain conceded three goals in the first half of the match, in which each team received a penalty kick.
Ludovic Blass scored the third goal for Nantes from a penalty kick in the last seconds of the first half, and Brazilian Neymar missed a penalty kick for PSG in the second half.
The first half witnessed the expulsion of the referee, Dennis Appiah, Nantes defender, before reversing the decision after returning to the VAR technique.
Leonardo told “Canal +” television that the French league officials did not perform their duties well, expressing at the same time his anger at the refereeing staff for the confrontation against Nantes.
He added, “It was a difficult match for us, after playing a match in the Champions League, we knew that we were going to lose after we deservedly conceded two goals.”
He said: “But after that, all the referees’ choices were against us. He declared one minute added time in the first half, but the penalty kick awarded to Nantes came in the fourth minute of overtime.”
He continued, “I think there was a rush to blow the whistle to calculate errors against us, and then Appiah gave a penalty kick, but the referee did not issue the player’s second yellow card.”