Barracas Central beat Banfield 1-0 at home at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó Palace, in one of the fifth round matches of Zone A of the League Cup, in another attractive duel for where to stay. However, the most striking thing on Wednesday afternoon at the Parque de los Patricios was the incident involving Julio César Falcioni, Taladro’s coach, and referee Ariel Penel.
What happened? Just before the end of the first half, Juan Álvarez led a very favorable counterattack for Banfield, but Nicolás Capraro stopped him with a kick at the goal of the penalty area. All of Banfield demanded a penalty, but Penal ignored the sanction. It even appeared that the violation could have been committed outside the penalty area, but at least it was appropriate to at least review the action, which could have been punished with a red card. But neither Penel nor the VAR – led by Diego Ceballos – assessed it and Capraro didn’t even see a yellow card.
Football curiosities
As soon as the first half ended, Falcioni complained to Penel about this game. “Keep going, Julio,” was the referee’s response. The discussion seemed to have escalated and the technical director’s protest became angrier, leading Penel to exclude him. The coach exploded at that determination and gave the referee a shove, who paused in surprise at Falcioni’s gesture – an unexpected reaction for a 67-year-old rider with several decades of experience on the pitch.
Falcioni ended up watching the second half in one of the boxes on the Huracán field, while his assistant Néstor Piccoli directed Taladro for the remainder of the game, although the scoreboard did not move. Striker Alexis Domínguez scored the Ducó’s only goal of the afternoon in the 30th minute, after a long pass from Facundo Mater to Iván Tapia. Given the lack of reaction from the away defense, the Barracas captain took the lead in defining the goalscorer.
