Giampaolo: ‘Sampdoria-Milan referee lost control of the match’

Sampdoria coach Marco Giampaolo was furious with the referee after their 2-1 defeat to 10-man Milan. ‘You shouldn’t officiate with arrogance. He was not in control of the match.’

Junior Messias had put the Rossoneri in front after six minutes and Charles De Ketelaere had a goal disallowed for Olivier Giroud’s offside position interfering with play.

Rafael Leao was sent off for a second bookable offence, then Giroud converted a penalty for Gonzalo Villar’s handling offence.

In stoppages, Giampaolo was sent off for dissent along with a member of his staff.

“After Leao’s red card, which was sacrosanct, the referee then started officiating purely in one direction, almost as if he was trying to make amends for something,” Giampaolo told Sky Sport Italia.

“Every decision went against us. Plus you shouldn’t officiate with arrogance, you need to handle the pressure. It’s an important result for both clubs, not just Milan.

“It is right that I was sent off, because I called him a moron, but this is not how you deal with cards, you need to be more reasonable. Otherwise you lose control of the game.

“I am never controversial with referees, I have great respect for them, but this was a referee who was not in control of the match. It’s entirely possible Milan would’ve won anyway, don’t get me wrong, but I did not like his attitude.”

Sampdoria have held Juventus and Lazio to draws at Marassi, but oddly seem to play worse against the smaller clubs, such as their 4-0 defeat to Salernitana.

“We only got one game really wrong, against Salernitana. We have a few problems, but we’ve been up against some great teams and I have faith in these lads.”