Former referee Paolo Casarin was impressed with the work of Simone Sozza in Inter’s derby thrashing of Milan, noting the official’s ‘confident attitude’.
The Rossoneri fell to their intercity rivals for the fifth time in a row, suffering an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Nerazzurri in front of a sold-out San Siro. The result leaves Simone Inzaghi’s side uncontested at the top of the table.
The derby has again reignited the Milan debate surrounding coach Stefano Pioli, but for their local rivals the clash is seemingly a sign that the Scudetto could finally return this season, giving them a key boost in confidence.
Speaking to Corriere della Sera via TMW, Casarin gave his thoughts on the work of referee Sozza in the Derby della Madonnina.
“The Milan derby entrusted to the young referee Sozza, who lives in Seregno in the province of Monza-Brianza, but was born in Milan.
“An already international referee, whom Rocchi is trying to develop quickly in order to enlarge the group of referees able to cope with the most important matches.
“The ultimate goal is for the teams to meet a large number of different officials during the course of the season.
“During the match Sozza maintained a confident attitude on the pitch, answering a few questions from the players.
“There were therefore no squad protests, not even on the occasion of the penalty awarded to Inter for contact by Theo on Lautaro. So, a fair match also thanks to the good Sozza.”
Milan will need to dig deep and bounce back ahead of their first Champions League outing this season, facing Newcastle on September 19. Inter’s first European commitment is against Real Sociedad the following day.