This was until Marco Tilio went down for a controversial penalty that was given by referee Alex King.
It was a defining moment in the match and shifted the momentum fully towards the visitor’s way, which Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay said was very soft and changed the game.
“In my opinion that was a very soft penalty that was given by the referee. It changed the game and made us have to change what we were doing,” Talay said.
City coach Rado Vidosic, meanwhile, had a differing view on the decision that helped his team go 2-1 up.
“The referee’s decisions are out of our control. What is in our control is how disciplined we are inside our penalty box defending,” Vidosic countered.
“We were excellent in that and there was never a question of us giving a penalty or free kick away.”
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It was a key moment in the game where the home side had 20 shots and looked to be the better side for most of it but somehow lost 3-1.
“It’s frustrating because this was never a 3-1 game,” Talay said.
What made it even more confusing for both managers is that just a few minutes later Tilio fell down in a similar area in the penalty box. It even looked worse than the first incident, but it was dismissed.
“I think if the first one was a penalty, then the second incident should have been as well then.
That’s my belief,” Talay said.
Vidosic agreed with his counterpart, having a very similar opinion on his team possibly getting two penalties in just three minutes.
“There was another push from behind minutes after the penalty that could have easily been classified as another penalty, but it wasn’t,” Vidosic added.
Talay even went as far as to say he would have rathered both been given penalties as long as the referee stayed consistent in his decisions.
“All we ask for is consistency. The reality is if he makes the decision the first one is a pen then the second one should be too,” Talay said.
The two separate incidents that were so similar started to get fans wondering whether Tilio was becoming prone to falling in the box easily.
His coach completely dismissed these claims though, saying sometimes it is impossible to not fall down in the box.
“I don’t think that Marco is soft. Sometimes when you get tackled while in the act of shooting or crossing you can’t do anything but go down,” Vidosic said.
It was a dramatic moment which changed the game and really shifted the momentum from evenly poised at 1-1 to eventually a 3-1 City victory.
Who knows the outcome of the game without the penalty decision. One thing that is clear is that these two would make for an exciting clash in the finals.
Feature Image Credit: Photomac
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