Pari, Var and many, many, controversies. Fiorentina-Inter, more than for the pyrotechnic 3-3 final, will go down in the history of this season for the endless refereeing discussions, on all those related to the penalty that decided the result. We can therefore only start from what happened in the 97th minute, when Abisso pointed to the spot to punish an alleged touch with D'Ambrosio's arm on a cross from Chiesa. The replays immediately questioned the decision but the referee, after several minutes in front of the monitor, decided to confirm the penalty anyway, which was later converted by Veretout when the clock even reached 101' (!).
Key episode and, consequently, highly contested by all of Inter, who flocked en masse to protest a decision that leaves at least perplexing: D'Ambrosio seems to touch the ball with his chest and in any case the Var, by regulation, should only intervene on the clear errors, certainly not on situations of this type. “Everyone saw that he hit her with the chest – thundered Spalletti at the press conference. – But what did the referee see? Too much pressure, evidently, that he has not been able to face. And these are decisive matches, you have to be at the level of such evenings. There were 40 of us on the bench and we all saw that he hit her in the chest ”.
“We saw too much Var today – Pioli replied. – I would not consider certain fouls, but if the referees whistle these penalties it means that for them there are ". The offending episode is only the culmination of a match that is as beautiful as it is nervous, in which the Var played an absolute protagonist. The first silent check came after just 16 seconds to verify the position of Chiesa, author of the assist for Simeone's 1-0: regular, just like that of Vecino 5 minutes later on Nainggolan's pass for the immediate 1- 1.
On the other hand, nothing to verify on Politano's 2-1, son of a splendid left-footed shot that touched the post before inflating Lafont's goal, then, at the beginning of the second half, here is the Var again protagonist in assigning a penalty to the Inter for an arm (this is evident) from Edmilson, transformed by a very cold Perisic (52 '). Closed game? Not a chance. Shortly afterwards Biraghi reopened it with a nice shot under the crossbar but the Var intervened again to report a foul by Muriel: correct decision and goal disallowed. But the Viola had the merit of not giving up and in any case finding the 3-2 with Muriel, author of a free-kick to tell the grandchildren, before trying everything and obtaining the disputed penalty in full stoppage time.
Inter return home with a lot of anger and, above all, two points less in the standings which, in the light of the victories of Milan and Rome, risk weighing heavily on the economy of the championship.
A decidedly quieter Sunday for Juventus and Napoli, both victorious without doubtful episodes and controversies of any kind. The successes in Emilia, however, are quite different: the Azzurri strolled without any problems on the Parma field with a resounding 4-0, the bianconeri instead suffered and conquered Bologna only thanks to a paw from Dybala (67') and to Perin's saves, decisive together with the post in avoiding the deserved rossoblu draw.
“It's normal that there was still some dross after the Champions League – explained Allegri. – I need to improve the condition of some players, we have to be at the top on March 12th. I'm optimistic about the next round, in the meantime we have won three important points, because we can go to play the match against Napoli with the same gap in the standings". However, the concern remains for an inexplicably subdued Juve, as indeed in almost all the matches played in 2019: a change is urgently needed both physically and technically, otherwise the comeback with Atletico will remain only a dream.
On the other hand, Ancelotti's Napoli can smile, once again as prolific as at the beginning of the season. Parma's 4-0 may have unplugged an offensive department that wasn't doing well at all and that yesterday, however, rediscovered itself capable of scoring and having fun. Zielinski's goal (19') was followed by two from Milik (36' from a free-kick and 73' with a left footed shot in the bottom corner) and the final goal from Ounas (83'), all to the delight of Ancelotti finally satisfied.
“The level of performance was very high as in the last few matches but this time we made the many chances we created concrete – commented the blue coach. – There is the motivation of wanting to do well until the end, nothing is decided yet. There are many teams that are coming up and there is a lot to fight for. Juve have an enormous advantage, Sunday will be a very good match and it will be an honor for us to face those who are doing better than anyone else". The Scudetto will not be decided at the San Paolo but both will want to win, albeit for different reasons. And let's hope that the Var doesn't play too many jokes this time...
