Roy Keane hit out at the ‘unfair’ refereeing that saw Kylian Mbappe forced to wait three minutes and 12 seconds to take a penalty against Morocco.
The World Cup quarter-final in Boston was blown wide open when Argentinian referee Facundo Tello pointed to the spot in favour of France after Mbappe was fouled by Noussair Mazraoui.
It was a clear foul but an extended VAR check, along with fussy refereeing that saw Mbappe forced to replace the ball on the penalty spot, saw the French striker knocked off his stride.
His eventual spot-kick was well short of his usual quality and it was saved easily by Yassine Bounou.
‘It is unfair,’ Keane said on ITV.
Kylian Mbappe missed a first half penalty in the World Cup quarter-final against Morocco
Mbappe had to wait more than three minutes from when it was awarded to eventually take it
ITV pundit Roy Keane (centre) felt the long wait was unfair on Mbappe in a ‘pressure situation’
‘Listen it is unfair. Over three minutes. I know these are world class players but it is unfair because it is a pressure situation.
‘Why does he have to wait three minutes? These are world class players but it is unfair.’
Ian Wright, a striker in his playing days, felt the lengthy wait allowed for too much time for doubts to creep into Mbappe’s mind.
‘It probably does put you off,’ the former Arsenal striker said. ‘The longer you have to wait for a penalty the more you doubt what you’re going to do. This stuttering penalty technique, the goalkeepers seem to have a march on it now.’
‘Time is the enemy for a striker when you’re waiting,’ Keane added, ‘so you’re giving the advantage back to the goalkeeper and the team who’ve conceded the penalty, so it’s not right.’
But Mbappe didn’t let it dictate his match as he emerged in the second half desperate to make amends before going on to deliver the game-changing impact.
First, he produced a stunning goal from distance to curl in for 1-0, his 20th World Cup goal in 20 matches, before he teed up Ousmane Dembele to add a second with 25 minutes to go.
