To be frank this would have been a bad call even if it was obviously a red card foul, which is why refs will routinely ignore fouls in the box, and if you don't know this you are blind to the nuance that is soccer.
Soccer has always been about flow and competition and refs are supposed to stay out of the game, the only reason a ref should give a red on this would be if it stopped a clear breakaway or chance on goal, if the player was badly hurt, preferably having to withdraw from a game, or if Nani had made several reckless tackles and had been warned or better yet carded already (particularly in a chippy game where a ref is trying to regain control).
None of this applies and so the minutia of what the ref saw is irrelevant, he should have checked to see if the player was badly hurt then given a yellow, the rule of thumb is always to keep a player on.
|