Atalanta director Luca Percassi hit out at the ‘scandalous’ refereeing decisions that he insists ‘ruined’ the match against Inter. ‘They were just incomprehensible.’
La Dea were beaten 4-0 at San Siro, but the focus was all on two specific incidents that proved decisive.
The first was a Charles De Ketelaere goal that would’ve given Atalanta the lead, only to be disallowed for an Aleksei Miranchuk handling offence in the build-up.
“Let’s say that commenting on a game like this is very difficult. We were without doubt facing a great team, congratulations to Inter, who deserve to be top of the table.
“It is a very disappointing result because there were in our view some very serious errors made by both the referee and the VAR,” Percassi told DAZN.
“The De Ketelaere opening goal that was disallowed is just incomprehensible, that despite all the footage at their disposal, they manage to disallow that goal. That is a valid goal, there was no Miranchuk handball, and if anything Bastoni crashed into Miranchuk and therefore it would’ve been a penalty.”
Former referee and current DAZN refereeing expert Luca Marelli explained that the ball did touch Miranchuk’s arm.
“No, if you look it is Bastoni who touches the ball and it does not change direction at all when going past Miranchuk’s arm,” insisted Percassi.
“Do not try to interpret something from the footage that is not clear.”
The second incident was doubly contentious, as the assistant had raised the flag for the ball going out at the by-line, then Denzel Dumfries fired a cross onto Hans Hateboer’s hand from point-blank range.
VAR over-ruled the linesman and then recommended the referee go to an On-Field Review for the handball, all of which took a very long time.
“It is incomprehensible that the penalty was awarded in those circumstances. That was truly scandalous, as nobody in the stadium understood what was happening during the five or six minute wait for VAR to find something that nobody had seen,” added Percassi.
“The linesman had raised the flag already too. We are deeply disappointed, because this was potentially a great game of football that was ruined by the refereeing decisions that had a huge effect on the result.”
VAR intervenes to give Benjamin Pavard a lifeline after Atalanta take the lead from his mistake 👀
Correct decision? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/S4W3mOU7MK
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 28, 2024
Cry baby, cry🤣🤣🤣
The first handball call was the correct decision, but the second was a stretch.
Rubinter!!
Favours for Inter? Never! Inter must win at all costs , China and the F.I.G.C rely on the income.