RKC lost the away match against Feyenoord in Rotterdam 0-1. It rained opportunities for the Rotterdam team, who played against ten men for a long time after RKC keeper Etienne Vaessen received a controversial red card. He is said to have blocked a Calvin Stengs bet with his upper arm outside the penalty area.
No red, thought Vaessen, who stood on the field for a long time in the hope of changing referee Martin van den Kerkhof’s mind. However, after a check by the VAR that took minutes, the card remained standing. Doubtful according to Vaessen because the ball would have hit his chest first. Second goalkeeper Jeroen Houwen, however, showed that he was no worse in quality than Vaessen by, among other things, tapping a ball out of the goal with a nice gliding dive.
Disallowed goal
Earlier, defender Dario van den Buijs made the best save of the match. The Belgian managed to turn Santiago Gimenez’s hard effort onto the line with his head. He repeated this trick in the second half, this time after a shot from Ivanusec. Once again Van den Buijs turned the ball onto the line. This time with his feet.
Feyenoord continued to press and had chance after chance in the penalty area. A goal by Ueda was disallowed because the ball had already gone behind and the crossbar and post stood in the way of the Rotterdam team. Only in the 84th minute did Feyenoord player Mats Wieffer break the spell (1-0). He headed home after a corner kick from substitute Leo Sauer. The Rotterdam fans who cheered on their club in the pouring rain could finally cheer.
RKC had another chance through 19-year-old Chris-Emmanuel Lokesa, but he hit the outside of the post.
Angry
Afterwards, Etienne Vaessen was still angry. “Isn’t the ball hitting my ribcage first and then hitting my upper arm? That’s how I see it.” It bothered him that the referee did not walk to the screen himself to watch the images, he said in front of the camera of sports channel ESPN. “I’m sure this red card will be dismissed. Otherwise I’d better hand in my football bag.”
Judge for yourself, is it red or not?