What would you have done if you were Raheem Sterling?
Bearing down on the Shakhtar Donetsk goal, the English winger looked confused as to what he was going to do next. He second-guessed himself, like he often does in these instances, and ended up kicking the Etihad Stadium turf and tripping himself up.
The Shakhtar defender was closing in on him at the time, but there was still clear daylight between the pair. Shakhtar goalie Andriy Pyatov had left his line and he was spreading himself in preparation for the shot.
But even watching from a camera more than 50 yards away from all of this, it was clear to everyone that Sterling was responsible for his own fall. His clumsiness had cost him, chance gone.
That wasn’t how the referee saw it. He was about 15 yards behind Sterling when all of this happened and he blew his whistle to award the penalty. Presumably, he’d adjudged that Sterling had been tripped by the tracking defender.
He was positioned directly behind Sterling though, and there is a possibility that his line of vision was blocked. One man who has no excuse, however, is the third official behind the goals. He was looking directly across at the English man, but again, as is often the case with these lads, he decided against using his power.
He kept his mouth shut, Gabriel Jesus tucked the penalty away and City now look home and hosed.
What a farce it was.
Pyatov couldn’t help but laugh it all, there was no point in doing anything else.
"Oh he's kicked the ground. Oh dear…"
"There's an official behind the goal. You've to question the reason for his existence!"
Man City are 2-0 up thanks to Gabriel Jesus' penalty. But replays show Raheem Sterling kicked the ground rather than being fouled. 🤔 #VMSport pic.twitter.com/zQ03adpfk8
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) November 7, 2018
