CM: Milan’s anger fuelled by repeat Valenti incident in Parma-Cagliari

AC Milan’s anger over recent refereeing incidents will not have subsided after events last night during Parma’s game against Cagliari.

As Calciomercato.com write, less than a week after the controversial incident in Milan 0-1 Parma, the same situation occurred again at the Stadio Tardini with a drastically different outcome. This time the block was deemed a foul, after it was cleared of being one at San Siro.

Defender Lautaro Valenti was in the middle of the debate again, having been the one who blocked Mike Maignan and allowed Carlos Cuesta’s team to win 1-0 to end Milan’s unbeaten streak. As a reminder, VAR recommended an On-Field Review to the referee Piccinini on that occasion.

A change in stance

A few days later, however, the opposite was true. In Parma vs. Cagliari last night, Valenti made the same move again to obstruct any attempt by Elia Caprile in the Sardinians’ goal to come out and claim the cross.

The referee called for a foul on Valenti for an almost identical case. Given that no goal was scored, the VAR chief did not need to intervene, but the lack of consistency regarding these kinds of calls must make Milan irate.

Luca Marelli’s comment to DAZN was as follows: “It’s clear that what happened last week in Milan didn’t go unheeded. The referees noticed and probably received instructions to that effect.

“Valenti had already been cautioned previously for a corner kick by Massimi, he was cautioned by Massimi this time too, and since he blocked exactly as in Milan, this time a foul was called. Rightly so.”

At the end of the match, he added: “Different incidents. This evening, a lot of attention was paid to these positionings, in one case with a warning, in another with a foul, and in a third with a foul called on another player. The way the situation was handled tonight was correct, with a warning and then with an attacking foul.”