Italian Report Examines Penalty Awarded To Lazio During Victory Over Inter | OneFootball

In today’s print edition, Milan based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport have examined the performance of referee Gianluca Rocchi during last night’s match between Lazio and Inter at the Stadio Olimpico in what was a top of the table clash.

Inter took the lead through January transfer window recruit Ashley Young shortly before the half time whistle was blown but goals from Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the second half meant the hosts won 2-1.

One of the biggest talking points from the game was Rocchi’s decision to award Lazio a penalty shortly after the second half began.

Immobile took a swing and miss at the ball and went to ground in the penalty box. During him missing the ball it appeared he connected with Inter defender Stefan de Vrij, who was right behind him and who had his hands on his back. The penalty seemed to be a very soft one.

VAR could not intervene and Gazzetta dello Sport have doubts over whether VAR would have intervened had Rocchi, who was well-positioned to make the call, not called the penalty.

The report goes on to add that Rocchi was right to just give de Vrij a yellow card opposed to a red card as the Dutchman made a clear attempt to get the ball and even got a touch on it before Immobile went down.

Soon after Lazio’s penalty, Inter had claims for a penalty of their own waved away and the report says rightly so as Luiz Felipe pulled his leg away from Ashley Young, who ultimately fell over due to his momentum.