It always feels like referees occasionally threaten to punish grappling in the box before turning a blind eye to it for months on end, but Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal can’t really have any complaints here.
He gets his arms right round the Elche player and brings him down with the ref staring straight at him, so it’s no surprise that the penalty was given and Elche are now level:
GOL! Fidel (Penalty) 52′
Elche 1-1 Real Madrid | #ElcheRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/Nm1MOKqVqP
— noobfcb (@noob_fcb) December 30, 2020
Pictures from beIN sport
The ref has made the correct call here but all we really want to see is some consistency, so it will be interesting to see if he gives another in the game if he sees a similar incident.