Manuel de Sousa sends off Torino's Marco Benassi
De Sousa looked up to the challenge of his first UEFA Knockout Stage Appointments, presenting a strong case as Portugal's new top referee.
27th Minute: Torino's Marco Benassi, already booked, delivers a late, studs-up challenge to Alex Witsel. Good call by de Sousa to give Benassi a second yellow. An argument could be made that Benassi's foul warranted a straight red for endangering the safety of an opponent. Despite Witsel's injury, I think that the challenge was not exceedingly dangerous and is barely a second yellow. Good handling of the situation by de Sousa!
Napoli 3-1 Dinamo Moscow Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece)
The Greek referee had a tough game to referee and, in my opinion, he got 1 out of the 2 big decisions correct.
30th Minute: Sidiropoulos whistles for a penalty and a yellow after Napoli's Dries Mertens goes down in the box near Mathieu Valbuena. I don't have a good replay, but I am having a hard time seeing much contact. Maybe a minor heal click, but not enough for a penalty. Gonzalo Higuain would take advantage for the second goal of his hat trick performance.
46th Minute: Already on a yellow, Moscow's Roman Zobnin slides in late from behind on Faouzi Ghoulam. Good call on the second yellow from Sidiropoulos.
Everton 2-1 Dynamo Kiev Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
The Spanish UEFA Elite referee did not disappoint. Expect a Champions League appointment next week.
39th Minute: Carballo first does a very good job playing advantage after Everton's Romelu Lukaku is fouled but retains possession. Afterward, there is an even better decision from the Assistant Referee, correctly ruling Steven Naismith onside by a hair. Naismith would then bury the shot to draw the hosts level.
81st Minute: Excellent penalty call by Carballo on a handball by Kiev Defender David Silva. Silva had slid in to try to block a shot from Steven Naismith. However, the ball hit his extended hand. Lukaku buried the spot kick to give the English side a 2-1 win. Great eyes by Carballo to call the penalty.
Fiorentina Goalie Neto made a fine save, but Roma deserved a retake.
Fiorentina 1-1 Roma Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
The newly promoted Spanish UEFA Elite referee had a decent game. The only crucial call he was faced with was a penalty decision in the 59th minute
59th Minute: Fiorentia Goalkeeper Neto appears to trip up Roma's Juan Iturbe in the box. I have suspicions of a lack of contact, but I'll agree with the penalty call because the referee had a better angle than I do. On the penalty, Neto made a fine save to hold a 1-0 Fiorentina lead, but I will argue that should have been a re-kick. See in the image above how a Fiorentina player is well over the line before the kick. Lahoz should have blown his whistle after the save.
Club Brugge 2-1 Besiktas Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)
The Scotish referee had a quiet game besides one penalty call.
77th Minute: Club Brugge are award a penalty after Felipe Gedoz gets clipped from behind by Serdar Kurtulus. Despite the fact that Gedoz excessively sold the penalty (and did a horrible job at it), there was enough contact to warrant a penalty. Good call by Thomson.
Dnipro 1-0 Ajax Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Wolfsburg 3-1 Internazionale Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Villarreal 1-3 Sevilla Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy)
Quiet games for these referees. Nothing important to look at.
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