Botafogo striker fires at referee after setback and criticizes Fonte Nova
Botafogo suffered a comeback in stoppage time and lost 2-1 to Bahia this Saturday (30), at Arena Fonte Nova, in the 18th round of the Brazilian Championship.
In a match that had a bit of everything, the Rio team took the lead with a great goal from Huguinho, but then started making several mistakes. Goalkeeper Neto was sent off in an unusual way, Ferraresi scored a bizarre own goal and, in the end, David Duarte turned the game around.
After the confrontation, striker Arthur Cabral criticized the performance of referee Davi de Oliveira Lacerda and also the Fonte Nova lawn. He pointed to the referee's lack of discretion and said it was impossible to play on the Bahian field.
We were very harmed. When I played in Europe, I saw the interviews and I told myself that I wasn't going to talk about refereeing. Because it's very tiring, man. I don't want to talk about the arbitration, but the lack of criteria. We came from a game in São Paulo that had 19 minutes of ball rolling in the second half. Then another referee arrives, gives a yellow card for wax, and sends Neto off. It is complicated. We played an excellent match. We didn't deserve to be defeated today. Even though we played 45 minutes with one less player, we were closer to scoring the second goal than getting a draw. This is where the field comes in too. Because Mr. Fernando Diniz went to our field and said that "ah, it's impossible to play on this field". Then we come and play in this pasture here... it's complicated. How do you charge a synthetic lawn when you provide these playing conditions to an opponent? There's no way you can charge. We go out to play and take this field, the field in São Paulo that was the same. It is complicated. We have to stop being hypocrites and demand what is right and not what favors us. This is wrong, playing on a field like this. Bahia is huge, has its own stadium and can't provide a good field for the Brazilian Series A? We didn't deserve to be defeated. These two months will be very useful for us to train, come back strong and turn things around.
Arthur Cabral, Botafogo striker
The controversies in Salvador
Referee Davi de Oliveira Lacerda was one of the protagonists of the tricolor victory over Glorioso. Still in the first half, Ademir killed a Rio counterattack near the area and received a straight red card. However, the referee reviewed the move with VAR and changed the color of the card.
In stoppage time, Neto took more than 8 seconds to restart the game and received a yellow card. The referee pointed to the corner (as required by the rule) and heard swearing from number 22.
As a result, Neto received the red and left early.
Situation of Botafogo
The Cariocas could get closer to the fight for a place in the next Copa Libertadores. With the defeat to Bahia, Botafogo is in 11th place in Series A, with 22 points.
The black and white team could lose some positions depending on the progress of the last round before the break for the World Cup.
After the World Cup, Glorioso's next opponent is Santos, at the Nilton Santos Stadium, in a duel that has a base date of July 22nd.
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Source: CNN