There were a couple moments of penalty controversy in the second half of yesterday’s Serie A clash between Inter Milan and Napoli.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, break things down.
In the end, yesterday’s top-of-the-table Serie A showdown ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
That result saw Inter remain one point behind Napoli. Meanwhile, the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Juventus caught up with their own wins earlier in the weekend.
But it could have been a much different result.
In the second half of yesterday’s match, Inter put the Napoli goal under a fair bit of pressure.
The Nerazzurri were unable to find the goal they were looking for. But there were chances – including one from the penalty spot.
Inter Napoli Penalty Controversy Broken Down
As the Gazzetta note, there was a hint of a penalty early on in the second half yesterday.
Wingback Denzel Dumfries fed the ball to Inter captain Lautaro Martinez in the Napoli penalty area.
Martinez’s control stood up and hit the arm of Partenopei defender Matias Olivera as the Uruguayan challenged for the ball.
There was no doubt that the ball made contact with Olivera’s arm.
However, referee Maurizio Mariani did not see the incident as worthy of a penalty. It was a tough situation for Olivera, and he was not making a deliberate attempt to control the ball with his arm.
In the view of the Gazzetta, this was the correct decision. The newspaper further note that Martinez did not make an appeal for a penalty in the situation.
Inter did, however, receive a penalty after all, later in the half.
That came from a challenge by Napoli midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa on Inter’s Dumfries.
In the view of Mariani, there was enough in the challenge to point to the spot. And VAR did not intervene to tell the referee to have another look at the incident.
For the Gazzetta, this was a very soft decision. While there was contact undoubtedly, and Anguissa did not win the ball, the contact was minimal.
So the incident was probably right on the margins.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte raged at the decision after the match.
