Russian coach Sergey Yuran has criticized the winger of FC Spartak Moscow, Jesus Medina. It’s worth noting that the Paraguayan missed a penalty in the 87th minute of Spartak’s 1-2 loss to Makhachkala’s Dynamo in the 25th round of the Russian Premier League. Later, the head coach of the red-and-whites, Dejan Stankovic, mentioned that Medina was not among those designated to take penalties prior to the match.

— Does the whole situation with Jesus Medina, who took a penalty without permission and then didn’t make the squad for the cup match, raise any eyebrows?
— It’s not just eyebrow-raising, it’s about fairness. A similar incident happened in Italy. A player from a mid-level team, possibly Cremonese, scored a penalty and was immediately substituted. Why? Later, it turned out he wasn’t supposed to take it. The coach elaborated — we need on-field discipline; players must adhere to the rules. So, what’s happening here? Are you on a beach vacation? Especially considering there’s an assigned penalty taker on the field. I completely agree with Stankovic on this point. You can’t let this sort of thing go unnoticed, — Yuran’s comments are quoted by LiveSport.

Jesus Medina was not included in Spartak’s lineup for the quarterfinal match of the Regions Path of the Fonbet Russian Cup against Ural, which ended 3-0. The club’s press service explained that he missed the match due to injury. In the 26th round of the Italian Serie A, Udinese forward Lorenzo Lucca volunteered to take a penalty against Lecce, even though the team’s regular penalty taker, Florian Thauvin, was also on the field. The Italian successfully converted the penalty in the 32nd minute and celebrated the goal alone. Lucca was substituted in the 36th minute, and Udinese won the match 1-0.