Athletic Club recorded its first victory in San Mames in nine years over Real Madrid in 'the old Clásico' on Wednesday evening, not least thanks to a missed penalty from Kylian Mbappé. That came from goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala who eliminated Antonio Rudiger, but Los Blancos almost had another goal when the match looked like it was 0-0.
After Rodrygo Goes went down in the penalty area following a challenge from Andoni Gorosabel, referee Jose Maria Sanchez allowed Martinez to continue playing. However, he was called across to look at the incident and VAR assistant Jorge Figueroa Vazquez played the video back to Sánchez Martinez and said: 'He never touches the ball'. After watching several times, Sánchez Martinez decides not to award the penalty.
Impressively, the incident sparked anger from all sides. Real Madrid TV frothed on the idea that Los Blancos had not been awarded a penalty, despite Sánchez Martinez being asked to look into the incident. Meanwhile, fans from Athletic and otherwise looked on in bewilderment as Figueroa Vazquez says Gorosabel isn't touching the ball. Athletic's right-back puts his foot on the ball clearly ahead of Rodrygo, whatever the decision, and the ball even changes direction as a result of the ball contact.
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