Referee Glenn Nyberg made a ‘serious mistake’ during last night’s game between Slavia Praha and AC Milan, according to Corriere dello Sport.
The paper (via Radio Rossonera) has the usual refereeing analysis by Edmondo Pinna and he gave the Swedish referee Nyberg a score of 5.5 out of 10, but praised the VAR for their intervention.
The main talking point is the red card given to Slavia Prague midfielder Tomas Holes, who put the match on the right track for Milan, but this is where Nyberg deserves criticism.
The intervention of the VAR chief is fundamental to correct Nyberg’s ‘serious mistake’ which was not the red that he eventually gave after looking at the screen but was in the choice not to initially take any disciplinary measures.
The stamp on Calabria’s tibia and ankle is ugly and reckless, but the impression is that if the referee (who was in a perfect position) had only given a yellow card to the Slavia midfielder, the VAR Higler would have supported him.
Doing nothing was a pretty serious mistake but it did allow for the VAR chief to intervene, perhaps presuming that he had not seen the contact.
Christian Pulisic’s goal was given despite Olivier Giroud jumping in front of the opposing goalkeeper Stanek. However, replays showed he was played just onside by Ogbu and if he had been offside then the debate would have been on how much he intervened.
