Girona penalty appeal for Benzema handball waved away
Machín's players appealed to Hernández Hernández when the ball struck Benzema's arm on six minutes. No penalty says AS refereeing consultant Iturralde González. </br><a title="Espanyol vs Real Madrid live stream online: LaLiga Santander" href="https://en.as.com/en/2018/02/27/football/1519753623_755581.html">Espanyol vs Real Madrid</a>
Girona's players appealed for the penalty six minutes into this afternoon's game when the ball struck Karim Benzema's arm inside the Real Madrid penalty area from a corner-kick. Those appeals fell on deaf ears and the ref waved.
Ball to hand, no penalty
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Machín's players waved to Hernández Hernández in vain. Replays showed that Benzema did not voluntarily use his arm and didn't have time to pull it away. According to former match official and refereeing consultant for AS and La SER's Carrusel Deportivo Iturralde González, it wasn't handball: "The ball struck him on his forearm, no penalty".
Isco opens
Six minutes later, the game changed in two swift moves - Girona it the post and Madrid broke with Isco racing onto a rebound to slot in the opening goal.