Fans believe that England were fortunate not to concede a penalty following the coming together of Declan Rice and Aymeric Laporte in the Euro 2024 final.
The former Manchester City defender went down in the box after being held by Rice during a Spain corner in the first half. But French referee Francois Letexier waved the protests of the side away.
Replays showed that the Arsenal midfielder held on to his man for a substantial amount of time before he hit the deck. However, no spot-kick was given and a VAR check was not indication.
Some Spain fans were in disbelief by the decision of the official not to point to the spot, with a few asking why video technology is even in the game if not used in those situations.
'WTFs the point of VAR?' Wrote one supporter on X following the incident. Another commented: '
Declan Rice could be seen holding Aymeric Laporte in the penalty area when a corner came into the box in the first half
Referee Francois Letexier waved the protests of Laporte and his Spanish team-mates away
Aymeric Laporte thought Spain should've had a penalty…#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #ESPENG pic.twitter.com/jN7StT6oKr
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 14, 2024
Spain fans were in disbelief that the incident did not lead to a penalty for their side against England
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'No penalty given for Spain. Declan Rice with two arms around Laporte. Harsh decision!'
A third said: 'Lmao England is the new Real Madrid How’s this not a penalty to Spain?'
'How Spain didn’t get a penalty I don’t know. That was a penalty from Rice,' said another.
Luis de la Fuente's side had to make do with a corner kick but their spirits were lifted swiftly after the interval when winger Nico Williams opened the scoring the final.
The Athletic Bilbao youngster finished smartly after being left unmarked on the edge of England's box. The 22-year-old has been one of the shining lights of the tournament so far.
