Former referee Graziano Cesari has claimed that AC Milan should have been given a penalty for Milan Skriniar’s tackle on Olivier Giroud during last night’s derby.
The general feeling is that the referee Mariani did a good job and didn’t let the magnitude of the occasion get to him, but there was one incident in particular that has drawn attentions from fans and pundits and it came early in the second half.
As a ball came into the Inter box Srkiniar latched on to Giroud and takes him with him to the ground. It was contact that Mariani deemed to not be worth of a foul, but since the Nerazzurri defender first hugs Giroud with the ball not close – and he is not even looking at the trajectory of the ball – there is certainly an argument for a penalty.
The former referee Cesari commented on Mediaset about Skriniar’s challenge on Giroud in the penalty area.
“Minute 47, Giroud and Skriniar fall into the area. Mariani is there, but he is not lucky because he does not see this situation: Skriniar forgets about the ball, with his left arm he almost immobilises Giroud and then topples on him,” he said (via MilanNews).
“This is an intervention that in my opinion had to be sanctioned in an absolutely different way. The defender’s arm immobilises the attacker. It is an interpretation entirely by the referee, the VAR cannot intervene because the size and intensity must be judged by the referee.”
Moreover, he went on to add that Lautaro Martinez could have been shown a red card and not a yellow as he was for a loose ball but ended up putting the full weight of his studs on Maignan’s wrist, which could constitute reckless and endangering play.
So nice to hear after every game that the refs make misstakes against us 🖤❤
🤣
Another game, another copy/paste SM article about how it’s a referee’s fault. Weirdly, there never seem to be similar articles when Milan get fortunate decisions in their favour.