'A disgrace!' - Ligue 1 referees labelled 'useless' by ex-Liverpool player Tyler Morton's brother after controversial decisions cost Lyon in last-minute loss to PSG

PSG took an early lead within 10 minutes through Warren Zaire-Emery, setting the tone for an exciting clash against Lyon. However, Lyon responded almost instantly as Afonso Moreira capitalised on a defensive lapse to make it 1-1. PSG regained their advantage when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia finished off a swift attacking move, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck back for Lyon to level the score at 2-2. As the match seemed destined for a draw, PSG earned a late corner. From the ensuing delivery, Joao Neves rose highest in the box to head home the winner, sealing a thrilling 3-2 victory for PSG.

However, the match was filled with controversial decisions that left Lyon furious. Ilia Zabarnyi’s apparent handball inside the penalty area went unpunished, while Kvaratskhelia’s goal was allowed to stand despite Vitinha’s tackle from behind on Tanner Tessmann. Another disputed moment came when Lee Kang-in challenge on Nicolas Tagliafico inside the PSG box was ignored. To make matters worse for Lyon, Tagliafico was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on Vitinha, and VAR upheld the decision, further fuelling Lyon’s frustration.

In a now-deleted post on social media platform X, Nathan Morton labelled the referees a disgrace and accused them of damaging the reputation of the league.

“I say it week after week: the referees in this league are a disgrace, and it sometimes ruins the overall level of the competition," he said. "They’re ready to do anything to change decisions and put themselves in the spotlight, because otherwise, they’re, as usual, completely incompetent… I’m not surprised. The foul on Tessmann and the handball are clear signs that they don’t want to upset the top teams in the league.”

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Lyon players, coaches and club officials were left furious after their defeat, which was overshadowed by several questionable refereeing decisions. The loss dropped them to seventh place in the league table.

Assistant coach Jorge Maciel delivered a scathing post-match rant, claiming that only the four referees on the pitch failed to notice the fouls committed during the game. He accused the officials of favouring PSG, suggesting that the champions played "with 16 men" due to having the officials on their side. Maciel added: "I'm also counting VAR. I think there are 59,000 people in the stadium, and only four of them didn’t see the fouls we analysed. We don’t even need to watch the replays. When it happens one way, we don’t understand it. When it happens with the arrogance of not even having the opportunity to discuss it, we don’t understand it."

Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso echoed the frustration, calling out the lack of consistency among referees, saying: “We need better refereeing in general because there are mistakes every weekend. There’s no consistency or dialogue.”

However, Ligue 1 referee association chief Amaury Delerue defended the officials, maintaining that they acted within the laws set by IFAB and that each decision followed proper protocol.

Paulo Fonseca and his team will look to use the international break to recover from fatigue and introduce new tactical variations to strengthen their side as they aim to break into the top three in Ligue 1 and secure qualification for the Champions League. Without a win in four matches, they will hope to turn their form around when they meet Auxerre on November 23, which will be followed by a Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

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