Raheem Sterling earned a bizarre penalty for Manchester City against Shakhtar Donetsk as he kicked the ground and fell over.
The referee Viktor Kassai was obstructed and believed the England international had been unceremoniously taken out.
Shakhtar players surrounded the officials, appealing incredulously, but their complaints fell on deaf ears.
Sterling found himself with the goal at his mercy and Andriy Pyatov charging towards him.
The 23-year-old glanced up and then attempted a chip over the goalkeeper's head. But his shooting leg dug into the turf well behind the ball and the winger toppled forward.
He got to his feet sheepishly and must have been as surprised as the Shakhtar players that the penalty was given.
Gabriel Jesus stuck the penalty away to give City a 2-0 lead after David Silva had tapped the hosts in front from two yards out.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
408
Before people slate Sterling, remember he didn't even appeal for the penalty. The Ref literally gave it for no reason...
EmeraldJ
355
Incompetent refereeing everywhere in UCL. UEFA is so corrupt
BabaNla_14
267
where is VAR plz
madridsta_5199
251
Sterling should have at least told the ref it wasn't a penalty and that he tripped. Instead he took the spoils from his mistake unsportsmanlike behaviour from Sterling.
liverpoolfan97
246
the question is who fouled sterling? what!!! you don't know niether do i 😂😂
number8jr
240
This reminds me of Vidal 😂😂
mrmerit7
209
He should've been yellow carded for that excellent dive. This is the reason why I so much support VAR.
12UnitedGuyReborn
206
When the Ref pointed to the spot I was like
ArnoHaoseb
193
What does the referee near the goal post do?
Vibanodouala
134
The ground was the "Video Assisted Raheem(VAR)
Deufms⚽️⚽️
104
Vidal anyone?
SanglianKhaute
92
am a city fan but that's not a penalty. I wonder what the fourth official was doing there.
dueadmrz
11
Before people slate Sterling, remember he didn't even appeal for the penalty. The Ref literally gave it for no reason...
Remember watching a fair play clip on YouTube where a player was awarded a penalty because he was fouled in the box but he then went up to the ref and told him he wasn’t touched and the ref changed the play. This is what sterling should have done, he won praise from city fans for gaining the penalty but he would have won the respect of football fans all over the world for this. There are a lot of ways of showing FAIR PLAY!!!