Sevilla kept itself in the LaLiga title race by defeating Granada 2-1 at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Sunday, although Spain’s fourth-place side had to withstand late pressure following Roberto Soldado’s penalty and hold out for not one, but two full-time whistles.
Ivan Rakitić gave Sevilla a 1-0 lead from the spot in the 16th minute, and Lucas Ocampos made it 2-0 in the 53rd off a feed from Papu Gómez. However, in the 90th minute, the VAR spotted a Marcos Acuña handball and Soldado said game on with four minutes of stoppage time to play.
Again, a Sevilla victory would move the club to within three points of league-leader Atlético with five matches to play. Granada, on the other hand, still harbored dreams of qualifying for the Europa League. This was a huge game.
But with three stoppage time minutes of the four gone, referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea decided to abruptly blow his whistle for full-time. Remember that the Laws of the Game stipulate that the number shown by the fourth official is “the minimum additional time” and that “additional time may be increased by the referee but not reduced.”
Granada’s players were livid, and De Burgos Bengoetxea quickly realized the error of his ways. Players that had already stripped off their shoes, shinguards and jerseys were recalled from all over the stadium to play out the final minute.
In one of the craziest moments we've seen, the referee in #SevillaFCGranada incorrectly blew the final whistle without realizing he had given 4 minutes of stoppage time, not 3! Some players had left the pitch and had to come back out and finish the match! pic.twitter.com/bKESZmvRSr
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 25, 2021
En un momento loco, el árbitro Ricardo De Burgos reanuda el partido y repone el minuto que le faltaba @SevillaFC 2-1 @GranadaCdeF #SevillaFCGranada ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/kakx1yFBBn
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 25, 2021
"I've never seen anything like this. Some of our players had taken off their kit," said Sevilla's Ocampos. "We've achieved the club's first objective and now we have five games left, all of which are like finals. We're very motivated and very excited. Our hope is still intact."
The outcome wasn’t changed, but it did finally provide us with an actual example of what happens when a ref just wants to go home.
