Milan beat Genoa 2-1 away at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after a refereeing decision involving Adrien Rabiot triggered criticism.
The incident at the 50th minute
Rabiot robbed Alessandro Marcandalli and was brought down in the 50th minute. Milan wanted Marcandalli sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, but the defender was shown a yellow card and Rabiot received the same punishment for dissent. VAR evaluated and confirmed the decision. Some of Ruben Amorim’s coaching staff were red-carded off the bench following the incident.
Milan’s scorers
Alphadjo Cisse and Christian Pulisic scored Milan’s goals.
Calvarese explains the decision
Former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese explained on Instagram why he felt the decision was correct: “Rabiot’s chance was a scoring opportunity, but the rules state that in order for it to qualify as DOGSO, there have to be four parameters met. They are having possession of the ball, the general direction of the move, the number of defenders in the vicinity, and the distance from the goal. In this case, considering the foul took place towards the touchline and circa 60 metres from goal, I consider Davide Massa’s decision to show only a yellow card to be sustainable. At the same time, had Massa decided to show the red card, VAR would not have been able to intervene, so it remains a decision made on the pitch at the referee’s discretion.”
Further assessment and Rabiot’s comments
DAZN Italian refereeing expert Luca Marelli gave a similar explanation because the contact was inside the Milan half.
Rabiot commented on the Instagram post: “In life just as in football, you can make mistakes, but you should at least be able to admit them. Lying continually won’t help you progress. And it is Italian football that will pay the consequences.”
Rabiot also wrote: “Hes 100% right, bad officiating holds the whole league back, it doesnt anyone any favours. He’s breaking away at full speed on the halfway line. In exactly another second or two, he’s one on one with the goalkeeper possibly with another Milan player (Cisse) to his left. If that’s not a dogso I don’t know what is. Massa had a terrible performance overall regardless of this incident. On of the worst of the recent years.”
