[ad_1]
Edinson Cavani was both a hero and a villain when Manchester United booked a Carabao Cup semi-final showdown that made their derby rivals Manchester City salivate.
The Uruguayan international’s goal in the 88th minute put United on track to a 2-0 quarter-final victory over Everton on Wednesday night, though the Toffees were doubly aggrieved that Cavani had earlier escaped a card. red after looking like he grabbed defender Yerry Mina in the round of the neck – with VAR not in use in the competition until the last four.
Here, the Palestinian Authority news agency takes a look at five others who have gone on to play a major role in a game by avoiding punishment.
Mario Balotelli was no stranger to controversy during his time in England, but the then Manchester City forward enjoyed an eventful clash, even by his standards, with Tottenham in January 2012.
The forward had been sent as a substitute after City blew a 2-0 lead and had already been booked when he appeared to step on Scott Parker, although referee Howard Webb did not see him.
Balotelli put salt on the Spurs’ wound by converting a stoppage time penalty to win the game 3-2, but then accepted a violent conduct charge and served a four-game penalty.
A short-tempered 1982 World Cup semi-final between West Germany and France was well balanced at 1-1 in Seville when Michel Platini split the German defense with a beautiful pass that put Patrik Battiston on goal.
Battiston came in ahead of goalkeeper Harald “Toni” Schumacher and touched the ball before being knocked down by a body check that left him unconscious, minus three teeth and with spinal damage.
Dutch referee Charles Corver took no action and after the score reached 3-3 at the end of extra time, Schumacher challenged Didier Six and Maxime Bossis from the penalty spot to send the Germans into the final.
England faced the Netherlands in a vital World Cup tie in Rotterdam in October 1993 and needed to win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the final in the United States.
His chances appeared to have improved markedly when, with 57 minutes remaining and the score still 0-0, David Platt stormed in only to be recovered by the last man, Ronald Koeman.
The whistle blew and Platt mentally prepared to shoot the resulting penalty, believing that the Dutch would finish the match with just 10 men.
But to his amazement, he turned and saw German official Karl-Josef Assenmacher signaling a free kick outside the area and issuing only a yellow card.
Four minutes later, Koeman opened the scoring at the other end with a good free kick before Dennis Bergkamp completed the job.
Not for the first or last time in his career, then Liverpool forward Luis Suárez took his frustration out on an opponent with his teeth.
With the Reds trailing 2-1 at home to Chelsea in April 2013, Cavani’s international teammate bit defender Branislav Ivanovic on the arm as the two fought, an offense that went undetected by referee Kevin Friend.
Suarez went on to score a tie in the seventh minute of stoppage time, but was eventually imposed a 10-game ban in video testing.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes was furious after replacement Javier Hernández led Manchester United to a 3-2 Premier League victory in October 2013.
The Potters had led 1-0 and 2-1 at Old Trafford and figured they should have been playing 10 men after Hernandez’s nasty challenge over Robert Huth, which left the defender in need of prolonged treatment.
However, the forward was only cautioned and went on to claim the winner with 10 minutes remaining.
[ad_2]