Ally McCoist fumes as Portugal penalty leaves Darwin Nunez World Cup hopes in doubt

© ITV Portugal were awarded a penalty for handball

Ally McCoist was left fuming after Portugal were awarded a penalty that all but secured victory over Uruguay and left Darwin Nunez’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.

The Liverpool striker’s side lost 2-0 in their second game at the Lusail Stadium thanks to a brace from Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes – the second of which came from a controversial penalty in added-time. Fernandes slid the ball through the sliding legs of Jose Gimenez, whose arm came down to land and made contact with the ball. Iranian referee Alireza Faghani was sent to the monitor to review his decision and ended up awarding a penalty for handball.

Red Devils talisman Fernandes stepped up to convert the penalty and secure the win, leaving Nunez and Uruguay bottom of the table with just one point – they are now two points off Ghana, who they face in the final round on Friday. And speaking during commentary of the match, McCoist fumed at the decision, following former referee Peter Walton’s attempted justification.

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“It’s unfortunate to have that penalty kick goes against him,” Walton told ITV’s live coverage of the match. “It’s hit him as he’s falling back but the ball has struck his arm. The referee in his instructive view that striking the arm is the deliberate action.

“I think it’s very harsh. The law did say if you’re putting your arm to break the fall, it was a deliberate act but that was removed from the law a year or so ago, it’s down to the subjective call of the referee. It’s clearly hit his arm, stopped the progress of the ball and that’s what the VAR has advised.”

McCoist replied: “He’s absolutely no idea that it’s going to hit his hand. He’s not trying to get an advantage, he’s not trying to gain an advantage, it is a completely and utterly accidental handball.”

Uruguay go into Friday’s final round of fixtures needing to beat a resurgent Ghana – who won earlier in the day – and hope that South Korea fail to beat Portugal.

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