Mathys opened the scoring in style on 51 minutes, controlling a clearance from Pedro Porro’s corner, killing the ball stone dead before pinging a curler beyond Karl Darlow into the top corner from 20 yards. It was a magic moment, celebrated joyously in front of the South Stand.
However, just 23 minutes later, Mathys caught Ethan Ampadu as he tried an overhead clearance. Richarlison skied his clearance, Mathys was under the ball but as he tried to connect, Ampadu rushed in, got to the ball first and went down. VAR ruled a penalty, dispatched by Dominic Calvert-Lewin for 1-1.
That’s how it stayed – with Antonin Kinsky producing a world-class save to deny Sean Longstaff and keep that precious point intact.
Speaking to us afterwards, we asked Roberto what he said to Mathys in the dressing room.
“A big hug, a big kiss, he’s a great player,” he said. “I'm sorry for Mathys, because he scored a great goal and then he made a mistake because he's very young. The mistakes of Mathys are the normal mistakes of a young player, not mature yet, but I think we are lucky because he's a big talent. You remember the pass in the first half in the middle of the goal area, our goal area? They are the normal mistakes.”
Asked a similar question on Mathys in his post-match press conference, Roberto replied: “A big hug and a big kiss, nothing more, because he is a young player, a big talent. He scored a great goal, he made a mistake for the experience, because he has not the right experience, he has not played too many games in his career and we have to accept that, but I am proud and I am happy for the mentality we showed.”