Gianpaolo Calvareseformer Serie A referee and now commentator on refereeing episodes for Prime Video, expressed his opinion, through a video on his YouTube channel, regarding the two refereeing episodes that influenced Milan-Lecce.
Krstovic’s expulsion
The protests of Lecce president Saverio Sticchi Damiani in the match against Milan seem justified. We can discuss the direct red card given to Nikola Krstovic for a challenge on Chukwueze, in this case the foot is high, at the height of the torso so the point of impact is really bad even if in my opinion the speed and danger of the serious foul are missing of game. This will never be an intervention in which VAR can intervene.
Massimi’s mistake
However, the failure of the entire refereeing team to intervene before the third goal is truly serious. The referee was right to let the game continue due to a regular contact inside the penalty area between Theo Hernandez and Almqvist, the error concerns not having stopped the game immediately due to a contact between the knee of the French AC Milan player and the temple of Lecce’s attacking winger.
This is one of the cases in which the referee must stop the game given that the head was involved, in order to avoid worse consequences. The safety of the players must always be protected. The error is serious because in these cases the VAR cannot intervene because it is a fortuitous clash and not a foul play.
