PSG midfielder Marco Verratti has been given this season’s strangest yellow card in 2-0 win over Nantes
WE MAY only be in January, but it will take some doing to beat the season’s strangest yellow card awarded to Marco Verratti.
The Paris Saint-Germain ace was booked in his side’s 2-0 win over Nantes in Ligue 1 after getting on his knees, and heading the ball back to his goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
The midfielder was brandished a yellow for this headed back pass
After receiving the ball from Trapp, instead of playing out from the back, the 24-year-old decided to try the headed pass so he could pick up the ball and restart play.
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However the referee deemed the action to be unsportsmanlike, and not only gave Nantes an indirect free-kick but brandished the yellow card.
The Italian international and his team-mates could hardly believe what they were witnessing, as they vehemently protested the decision.
The midfielder was unlucky to receive a booking but it didn’t matter in the end
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A FIFA rule states that: “No trickery may be used to get around the terms of the amendment to Law 12.”
While an FA rule states that referees can book a player if he “uses a deliberate trick to pass the ball (including from a free kick) to the goalkeeper with the head, chest, knee etc. to circumvent the law, whether or not the goalkeeper touches the ball with the hands.”
Regardless of whether Trapp picked up the ball, Verratti was punished because the header showed ‘ungentlemanly conduct.’
Edinson Cavani bagged a brace in the win for Paris Saint-GermainGetty ImagesThe current champions sit in third place but are now just a point behind leaders NiceReuters
The incident failed to have any influence on the game, as Unai Emery’s men closed the gap on leaders Nice at the top of the table by just a point.
Edinson Cavani netted a brace to register his 19th and 20th goals of the campaign, and become the first player this season to score 20 league goals.
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