Yesterday’s clash between AC Milan and Spezia certainly had a dramatic ending, but not in favour of the Rossoneri, unfortunately. In fact, everything that can go wrong in such a scenario happened to Stefano Pioli’s men.
Yes, I am of course talking about the disallowed goal (well, technically it wasn’t disallowed) and the following winner for Spezia, late into added time. It’s an officiating error that cannot be accepted at this level and everyone knows that.
The referee apologised immediately on the pitch for not letting the play go, and the frustration/reactions of the Milan players summed it all up pretty well. Ante Rebic was up in the referee’s face, as we have seen before, but this time he had every right to do it.
The heated debates that have followed the incident have certainly put a lot of blame on the referee. Rightfully so, and even to the extent that AIA (Italian referees association) apologised to Milan directly, something that is very rare.
Still, they blocked everyone on Twitter even if they just slightly questioned the decision, but that’s another story. The apologies from the referee himself and AIA do soften the blow a tad, but it’s very marginal.
The fact is that this incident could end up having a huge impact on the Scudetto race, from three points to zero. It’s only logical to think that rather than putting Milan down, this incident will energise and motivate them, but three points are still three points.
There have been talks of replaying the game because of the error which, I cannot stress enough, was serious and should not go unpunished. However, replaying the game would frankly be ridiculous and besides, such a decision holds no ground in accordance with the rules in place.
Don’t get too carried away with the official appeal of Codacons (read here), they complain about more or less everything. The reactionary part of you may agree with replaying, but the game is since long over and Milan now need to focus on the upcoming clashes against Juventus and Inter.
The reality is that we have seen similar errors from referees before, not letting play continue despite a good chance emerging. The only difference is that the ball hasn’t ended up in the back of the net. Last night’s incident, though, is no different in theory as the whistle came before the goal was scored. Besides, it would set a very dangerous precedent. No thanks.
The officiating errors may be adding up for Milan, but dwelling over it will do no good especially in this situation as the mistake has already been acknowledged. It can happen to anyone. It doesn’t make it fair, no one is arguing that, but there is nothing that can be done about it other than moving forward.
The Rossoneri shouldn’t waste the energy generated on complaining but rather use it to beat Juventus and Inter instead. And we know that they aren’t doing the former, seeing as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a few more consoled the referee after the game, reduced to tears by his mistake.
Moving on and getting over seem to be the keywords taken from this experience, which showed just how important one mistake can be. Will we be talking about it like Muntari’s goal vs. Juve? Maybe, but it’s up to the players to make sure that it doesn’t end up like that.
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To quote Drogba “its a disgrace, its a fu**ing disgrace”
I’m kinda sick of hearing about how sad the ref was. He screwed up, his mistake in terms of the job he was paid to do was egregious. Added that up with the other poor decisions he made through the game and he only has himself to blame. He is due a professional reprisal, send him down to the lowest league (after a lengthy suspension). If he wants to ref important games he needs to re-earn his reputation.
I think everyone now needs to cool down, take a breath, and move on from this. Yes, the ref did an egregious mistake, yes it could have severe consequences for the team regarding the scudetto race, yes the ref should have consequences. OK, that’s that. We need to focus on Juve and Inter and on the rest of the season. The more we give this attention, the more it’ll haunt us and distract us. Andiamo avanti ragazzii!
Well said Manu. Totally correct.
Played multiple sports in my lifetime and was coached at an early age, refs ,umpires, are human and make mistakes, play hard with the understanding that the ref is not going to help you, when you have the other team down, step on their throat, no mercy. This could actually work in our benefit, no doubt the other refs have seen this injustice and we make get some lenient calls (make up calls) in our favor in the future,(Juve, Inter) we shall see. Forza Milan
Well, we certainly didn’t get any makeup calls against Juve. As a matte of fact, not many calls made in a game with tons of fouls (which happened because the ref didn’t nip it in the bud to begin with).