Last night was not a good night for Mike Maignan, as he again had to pick the ball out of his net twice in a defeat to Napoli.
As pointed out in our player ratings, Maignan was – along with Koni De Winter – the one who struggled most in the loss to Antonio Conte’s side. For the first goal he tipped a Rasmus Hojlund cross into the path of David Neres, and for the second goal he let the Dane score from a very tight angle.
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Not only that, but – as La Gazzetta dello Sport also point out – he was probably lucky to stay on the field. In the eighth minute of the second half, Matteo Politano made a move to stop the Frenchman distributing the ball quickly.
In retaliation, Maignan swung his arm around with force and clocked him on the side of the head, but the VAR interpreted it as an attempt to free himself and so no further punishment was forthcoming.
Il VAR nasce in primis per questi colpi violenti. Una follia il mancato rosso. pic.twitter.com/3d9btLGdw4
— Antonio Gaito (@antonio_gaito) December 18, 2025
I see how Maignan was pointed out this time not because of him on the ground but outside.
Never a red. Yellow maybe, but never ever a red.
nah that might be a red based on today’s rules. It shouldn’t be. But i think it is
Then why didn’t VAR say it was red? Because it wasn’t/isn’t. 🙂
This is for red card + criminal prosecution. I’m sick of this Milan. BRING MALDINI BACK!!!!!!!!
No it’s not red – it’s maximum a yellow for him if the ref saw everything and definitely a yellow for Politano for deliberately executing the foul to put a stop or slow down a potential counter attack.
Maignan hit him on purpose, we all know that, but I can’t imagine a situation where you foul the GK in his field and he is given a red for this…
Exactly. 100% spot on.
It’s a red card. Mistake yet again by the referees. I would have been fuming if that happened to any Milan player. I think Politano should have yellow for obstruction, but I don’t think that would’ve been given along with a red for Maignan for violent conduct. To lash out with the arm like that and hit the opponent in the head is a red card regardless if he meant to hit him there or not. If that arm strikes on the shoulder it is not red in my opinion.