Scotland were enraged not to receive a late penalty in their World Cup defeat to Morocco though pundits could not agree on whether the decision was a correct one.
In the 82nd minute, Scott McTominay went down under the challenge of Neil El Aynaoui, who stuck out a leg and tripped up the Scot as he carried the ball into the box, with Morocco leading 1-0.
Replays showed that the Morocco midfielder did not make contact with the ball and only nicked the man, with ITV’s referee specialist Christina Unkel admitting that she thought the initial decision was incorrect, though not to a degree where VAR would overturn it and award a penalty.
It was the third Scotland penalty appeal of the game but by far the most vocal one, with McTominay continually pleading with referee Igliz Tantashev as play moved down the other end.
The denial would prove crucial as Morocco went on to hold onto their one-goal lead to win their first game of the World Cup, leaping above Scotland in the Group C standings and leaving them in a potentially precarious position going into their final group game against Brazil.
Pundits were split on the decision after the final whistle, with former Scotland striker Duncan Ferguson claiming it was a “stonewall penalty”.
“Absolutely, it was a penalty,” he said on ITV. “ There was a big touch and then McTominay goes down. He’s running at that speed, and I think he can get in [on goal].”
However, Roy Keane and Ange Postecoglou took an opposing view to Ferguson, feeling it would have been soft for Steve Clarke’s side to be awarded a penalty.
“ I think he’s looking to go down. There’s a difference,” Keane said, before Postecoglou added: “The Moroccan player puts his leg out but I don’t think he gets enough of him for it to be a penalty. He does get across him, but not for a penalty. I think he was going down anyway – but Big Dunc says it’s a stonewall so I’m not going to disagree!”
Unkel also noted that Uzbek referee Tantashev was known for needing more physical contact to be convinced of fouls, though Keane reiterated that “it’s a physical game”.
The decisive moment in the clash proved to be Ismael Saibari’s lightning-quick strike, which put Morocco ahead inside 70 seconds in Boston.
Scotland face Brazil in their final Group C game in Miami on Wednesday where they will hope to seal qualification to the knockout stages.
