Referee takes centre-stage in Madrid's win over Elche

Madrid, Sep 26 (IANS) Real Madrid won 2-1 away to newly-promoted Elche in controversial circumstances in their Spanish Primera Liga football game.

Madrid had looked to be on their way to victory against a tough and well-organised Elche Wednesday night when Cristiano Ronaldo finally opened the scoring six minutes into the second half, reports Xinhua.

Referee Muniz Fernandez had decreed four minutes of injury time when Elche levelled the score in the 92nd minute thanks to Yiadom Boakye, but after adding what looked like an excessive amount of time for Elche’s celebrations, Fernandez then awarded Madrid a penalty in the 95th minute after what looked like an fair challenge between Elche defender Carlos Sanchez and Madrid’s Pepe.

Amid general protests from the Elche team, Ronaldo made no mistake from the penalty spot and after the referee had blown the final whistle he also sent off the Elche coach and his assistant for their protests.

Elche were already angry given they had felt that the foul which led to Ronaldo’s first goal had never existed, while Muniz also let Ramos off a challenge which would have earned many other players their second yellow card of the match.

“We are leaving the pitch with the feeling we have been robbed,” said Elche captain, Edu Alcabar after the final whistle.