Jean-Michel Aulas on refereeing decisions: “They’ve just cost us five points.” | OneFootball

Speaking to Prime Video in the aftermath of his team’s 1-1 draw against Lorient last night, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas lamented the refereeing decisions which, in his eyes, cost his side points in their last two matches.

Referring to the decision to send off Emerson after 15 minutes, leading to the free-kick from which the Brittany side opened the scoring, Aulas pointed the finger at the official and the non-use of VAR.

As for the game against Paris Saint-Germain, he highlights the decision to award Neymar a penalty which allowed Les Parisiens’ equaliser, despite replays showing the Brazilian had pulled down defender Malo Gusto along with him. OL would go on to lose the match 2-1 after a late Mauro Icardi winner.

“I dreamt of a match on equal terms. A bit like in Paris, strangely we’re not disappointed by the result but rather the quality of the refereeing and what VAR hasn’t done. As a director I am immensely disappointed as VAR is not bringing to the table what it should. A referee can make mistakes, especially when he is young and lacking experience [Bastien Dechepy, last night’s referee, is 35], but there are things at stake which can’t be ignored. Nobody from the refereeing committee has spoken about the monstrous error [to award Neymar the penalty]. We’ve just lost five points on refereeing decisions.”