AS resident ref says no Cristiano Ronaldo penalty

Eduardo Iturralde reviewed the penalty given to Ronaldo early on in the Portugal v Spain World Cup 2018 match, and the possible foul by Diego Costa before his goal.

Our resident referee Eduardo Iturralde González says the penalty shouldn't have been given when Nacho made contact with Cristiano Ronaldo right at the start of the Portugal v Spain World Cup match in Sochi.

Cristiano slotted the penalty home to give Portugal a 1-0 lead. "It's not a penalty because Cristiano looks for the contact with the defender". He confirmed though that the decision correctly wasn't sent to the VAR as it "was not a clear error".

Clear foul by Diego Costa

Diego Costa then levelled for Spain, with what looked like a foul on Pepe in the build-up to the goal that wasn't seen by the referee or referred to the VAR. Iturralde's opinion: "There's a clear foul. The official responsible for the VAR referees in Italy and thinks there's been contact, but not enough to call the foul."