Last Monday night, Palestino and Deportes Limache faced off at the Municipal Stadium of La Pintana in a match within the Copa de la Liga. Palestino had the opportunity to reach the final round of the group stage, fighting for a spot in the tournament's semifinals. However, they ultimately lost to the Arab team 3-2, a result that eliminated them and qualified O'Higgins for the final stage of the championship.
One of the plays that sparked the anger of the Deportes Limache team was the one that resulted in a penalty for the Tricolores in the 87th minute. The VAR called referee Nicolás Millas to review the play, which ultimately led to the 2-2 score.
After the match, Jean Meneses strongly criticized the referee's actions. "It's a very tough defeat, a match that we had practically under control. There were a couple of situations that affect our work during the week. I don't know what the referee's criteria were for the penalty; it's a contact sport, and it ruins all the work we put in during the week," he said in an interview with TNT Sports.
"You can never talk about them (the referees), but when someone makes mistakes, they are punished. I hope that measures are taken regarding this issue; it's not normal for this to happen so often in football," he continued.
When asked if they felt they were unfairly affected by the decision, he responded that "yes, often, small details can determine the outcome. Today (yesterday), you could see in the penalty how..."
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Last Monday night, Palestino and Deportes Limache faced off at the Municipal Stadium of La Pintana in a Copa de la Liga match. Deportes Limache had a chance to reach the final round of the group stage, vying for a spot in the tournament's semifinals. However, they ended up losing to Palestino 3-2, a result that eliminated them from contention and advanced O’Higgins to the final stage of the championship. One of the plays that sparked outrage among the Limache players was a penalty awarded to Palestino in the 87th minute after a VAR review. The play resulted in a 2-2 tie. After the match, Jean Meneses strongly criticized the referee's performance. "It's a very tough defeat, a match we had practically under control. There were a couple of situations that affect our work this week. I don't know what the referee's criteria were for the penalty; it's a contact sport, and it ruins all our work for the week," he said in an interview with TNT Sports. "You can never talk about them (referees), but when someone makes mistakes, they are punished. I hope measures are taken regarding this issue; it's not normal for this to happen so often in football," he continued. When asked if they felt disadvantaged by the decision, he responded that "yes, often small details determine the outcome. Today (yesterday), you could see that even he didn't know if it was a handball or a kick; he never explained what happened; it's strange," he accused. Nevertheless, he pointed out that "we are also self-critical; we make a lot of mistakes and must be more decisive in our opportunities. Now, we need to recover our energy, think about Saturday's match, and stay high in the standings. Católica is a very good team," he concluded, referring to the upcoming match in the Primera Liga, scheduled for this Saturday, May 16th, starting at 8:00 PM, at the Lucio Fariña Stadium in Quillota. With this result, the team from the Valparaíso region remained with six points, with no mathematical chance of catching up to O’Higgins, which has 11 points after defeating Everton, with only one match left to play. Palestino, on the other hand, reached five points thanks to their first victory in the tournament. In the final round of Group C, which will be played on June 7th, O’Higgins will host Palestino at El Teniente, while Everton will visit Limache, in a match that will only be for honor. NEWSLETTEREl DeportivoMonday, 8:45 AMA special selection with coverage and analysis of the most important sporting events of the weekend, by the sports team of La Tercera. By subscribing, you are accepting the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policies of La Tercera.