Referee La Penna Praised For Navigating Tricky Torino 0-2 Inter Milan Serie A Clash On Rain-Soaked Evening | OneFootball

Referee Federico La Penna has won praise for his calm handling of a tricky, rain-soaked match between Torino and Inter Milan.

Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, also argue that La Penna got the penalty decisions right – but was wrong to disallow a late Torino goal.

Referee Federico La Penna was on the whistle at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino yesterday. Torino hosted Inter Milan in both teams’ third-last Serie A match of the season.

But right from the start, La Penna had to navigate some choppy waters.

Within the first couple of minutes, there was a medical emergency for a fan in the stands.

Once it became apparent that this was the case, La Penna quickly paused play. This delay went on for about four minutes, but the referee communicated clearly with both sets of players.

Therefore, there were no issues with the players, or restless feelings regarding the delay.

La Penna Gets It Right On Rain-Soaked Torino 0-2 Inter Milan Serie A Clash

FERRARA, ITALY – OCTOBER 27: Referee Federico La Penna gestures during the Serie A match between SPAL and SSC Napoli at Stadio Paolo Mazza on October 27, 2019 in Ferrara, Italy. (Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Things would get even more difficult as the first half of yesterday’s match wore on.

The rain in Turin got progressively worse through the first 45 minutes.

It eventually got to the point where the playing surface did not allow the players to realistically continue. The ground was sodden with water.

Therefore, the players were clearly slipping, and visibly having trouble getting a foothold.

At times, the ball did not travel naturally across the wet pitch when players tried to pass it.

Therefore, La Penna conferred with the team captains, and agreed to suspend play temporarily. Once again, the Gazzetta praise the referee for managing the situation.

Eventually, Torino and Inter did manage to play out the final few minutes of the first half.

Following this, halftime went well over fifteen minutes. La Penna, together with the players, figured out the right time to resume play in the difficult conditions.

Meanwhile, the Gazzetta argue, La Penna was entirely correct in awarding a penalty to Inter three minutes into the second half.

There was little doubt that Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had cleared out Nerazzurri striker Mehdi Taremi. And that he’d taken none of the ball.

Meanwhile, the Gazzetta also argue that La Penna got it right in not awarding Torino a penalty late in the second half.

Denzel Dumfries had inadvertently handled the ball following a Cristiano Biraghi shot. But there was little the Dutchman could have done in the situation.

On the other hand, the Gazzetta argue, Inter got away with one when an Adam Masina header was disallowed late in stoppage time.

Kristjan Asllani went down after some shoving. And La Penna saw this as a foul.

However, in the view of the Gazzetta, this was a very soft decision, as the Albanian had gone down under little pressure.