Referee Yael Falcón Pérez's glaring errors: from the missed red cards to the sideline before the penalty for River's draw against Platense

The poor performance of referee Yael Falcón Pérez marred the end of the match between River Plate and Platense at the Monumental . At the end of the match, after a mistake in not signaling a throw-in that was supposed to go to Calamar and was quickly taken by the home side, Salomón 's penalty on Borja and Franco Mastantuono's penalty were awarded. Furthermore, during the match there were at least three plays that deserved a red card or a review. Linesman Pablo Gualtieri assisted him in the overtaking of Franco Armani in the penalty shootout and in the end the Vicente López team ended up celebrating in anguish.

Although the first half was fairly calm, he was somewhat lenient with the delay that Platense's players began to cause. However, in the closing stages of the match, he made a series of controversial decisions. He was firm in showing Ignacio Schör a yellow card in the 36th minute, in one of his first actions, when he went too high with his leg against Paulo Díaz. Of course, VAR didn't call it either.

However, Marcos Acuña's tackle on Fernando Juárez in the 39th minute of the final half earned the World Cup champion a second yellow card. For the same offense, Falcón Pérez himself sent off Independiente's Santi López against River Plate in the eleventh minute of the first half in the match played in Avellaneda.

With the atmosphere growing increasingly nervous on both sides, first, six minutes of added time were awarded, and then another controversy erupted. In the same play, there was an elbow from Mastantuono that went unchecked, and the throw-in was meant to be Platense's because Martínez Quarta had been the last to touch it in the dispute with Zapiola. River quickly took the throw-in, and then came the foul, fine but a foul nonetheless, by Salomón on Borja. There was a lot of arguing, and captain Ignacio Vazquez went off on the referee, who in the melee sent off Walter Zunino, the assistant coach. Then, three more minutes, until the end.

With the peace of mind of qualification in place, it was goalkeeper Juan Pablo Cozzani who calmed the situation. Even before the penalty shootout, he forcefully separated Vázquez, who was arguing with Falcón Pérez. “I spoke to him, and he told me that if the full-back was for us, he apologized. And he swore on his son that he hadn't had any bad intentions. I told him to stay calm, and I even thought the fourth official (Sebastián Martínez, Federico Beligoy's nephew) had more responsibility,” said the goalkeeper, who was one of the stars of the qualification.

Schor went with his leg raised against Paulo Díaz and earned a yellow card 🟨

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All of Platense demanded the second yellow card for Huevo Acuña 🧐

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Mastantuono's tough clash with Juárez ⚔️

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All Platense players protest a previous throw-in in favor of Calamar

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