Lecce’s Nikola Krstovic was sent off in the 3-0 defeat against AC Milan and certainly made life easier for the latter. The incident took place just before the half-time break and as explained by a former referee, it was the correct call.
In the 44th minute, a cross was sent into Milan’s penalty box and Samuel Chukwueze reached the ball first, heading it away. However, in that same moment, Lecce striker Krstovic jumped in studs up and struck the Nigerian in the chest/upper arm.
The referee Luca Massimi didn’t hesitate and immediately showed the red card. Speaking live on DAZN, as cited by MilanNews, the former referee and current expert Luca Marelli was asked to share his thoughts on the decision.
“Massimi is well-positioned, he has the right perspective to evaluate what happened. At first, I thought it was an elbow, but then I saw what actually happened. Krstovic, as there was surely no intention – otherwise we would be talking about violent conduct – commits a serious foul play because he endangered the safety of the opponent.
“A serious foul play is punished with a red card and a one-day suspension, so the decision was correct. He hit with the studs on the side, and the leg was very high compared to the ball, while the ball was also very far away. Red is correct. If the referee had drawn a yellow in this circumstance, there would have been a VAR check to turn the yellow card into a red,” he stated.
Milan bagged their seventh consecutive win in all competitions, fifth in the league, and the red card helped preserve some energy ahead of Thursday’s clash. It’s the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Roma, so a good performance will be needed.
