Trpišovský unhappy as VAR overturns Slavia penalty in Zlín

Slavia coach Trpišovský was unhappy with the officials’ decision in the match in Zlín: the video assistant overturned a penalty awarded by the referee on the pitch. Slavia still won 1-0, but the coach admitted that after the game he let off steam – on the fourth official.

The incident, according to Trpišovský, looked clear-cut: “I thought that since the referee on the pitch made the decision, the penalty would stand. Maybe there was another angle, but it all seemed clear to me – four legs in contact inside the box.” The video assistant corrected the decision, and that, in the coach’s words, is exactly the “pain” that Czech football talks about all the time.

Trpišovský told the fourth official everything he thought. The official replied that the decision had come from VAR and had nothing to do with him. “I said I have nobody else to tell this to, so I’m telling him at least. Luckily, it didn’t decide anything,” the coach smiled at the press conference.

Experts were divided. TV pundit Zdeněk Folprecht is convinced that the contact between the thigh of Nombil’s left leg and Provod’s right leg happened before the box: “In VAR’s place, I would have decided the same”. Another pundit, Marek Kalivoda, is less categorical: it is a matter of centimetres, the referee could have decided either way, and he doubts how convincing the footage is – the contact may already have been on the line.

The decision surprised Provod himself: “It seemed to me it was inside the box, but I can’t judge from the pitch. There was contact that knocked me off balance, and I couldn’t stay on my feet.” After the free kick, Slavia did not score: Novák hit the wall, and Provod’s follow-up went wide of the goal.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz