Referee Awards The Most Ridiculous Penalty After Ball Hits Chris Smalling In The Face

Roma's Europa League group stage tie against Borussia Mönchengladbach was clouded in controversy on Thursday night.

The Italian side were leading at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to a first half strike from Nicolo Zaniolo but in stoppage time, Scottish referee Willie Collum awarded a controversial penalty to the visitors.

However, replays clearly show that Smalling was hit square in the face - and his arm was nowhere near the ball.

I've seen my fair share of bad penalty decisions down the years but this has to be up there with one of the worst.

Of course, Europa League officials do not have access to VAR technology and despite huge appeals from several Roma players, Collum was clearly confident that Smalling handled in the area.

Gladbach striker Lars Stindl tucked away the penalty to make it 1-1 and Marco Rose's side walked away with a controversial point.

Smalling, who is on a season long loan at Roma from Manchester United, posted on social media after the game to voice his outrage at the decision.

The 29-year-old captioned a picture explaining the location of his head and arm. "In disbelief this decision went against us..." he said.

Thoughts on the decision in Roma's Europa League clash against Gladbach?

Let us know in the comments below.

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Topics: Football News, Football, Europa League, AS Roma, Chris Smalling

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_