A last minutes penalty robbed Ajax of all three points as they were held by AC Milan 1-1 in their Champions League group Match.
- By Michael Bell
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From the start Ajax dominated possession, and created the first chance, when Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s shot from an angle was just kept out by Abiatti in the Milan goal.
Viktor Fischer then took aim from outside the box, but his shot flew just wide, as AC Milan rarely ventured outside their own half in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half AC Milan came into the game more, and Mario Balotelli saw a shot tipped brilliantly onto the bar from Jasper Cillessen.
In the 90th minute, Siem de Jong saw his low shot tipped around the post by Abbiati, and from the resulting corner Stefano Denswil rose high to head into the net, and give Ajax the lead.
However a minute later AC Milan were awarded a penalty when Mike van der Hoorn was believed to have pulled down Balotelli in the box. The Italian took the penalty himself, and earned AC Milan a 1-1 draw with the last kick of the game.
Replays show that the penalty should never have been given, as Mario Balotelli put his arm around Van der Hoorn first, before the Dutch defender had a hold of his shirt. The striker was nowhere near getting on the end of the cross anyway, and the contact was not enough for the striker to go down.
Frank de Boer’s men have every right to feel robbed by a terrible refereeing decision, and these calls need to be addressed by FIFA. If you can pause the game to watch footage of a goal, surely you can pause to watch if a penalty should be given?
In the nights other game, Barcelona saw off Celtic 1-0, meaning Ajax are now third in the group ahead of the double header with Celtic.
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Didn’t see the full game but saw the highlights.(work nights) This is the state of Football. Its become all about money and ONLY the top teams get the calls. Balotelli should get a 3 match ban. They give yellows for taking off shirts. That call was a disgrace and if Ajax doesn’t demand justice then shame on them. I’ve see in the past weeks teams get late penalty calls and its all the big clubs. Ajax is a minnow now and has no respect from UEFA.