Inter coach Simone Inzaghi slams the referee and VAR after their defeat to Juventus, insisting the Adrien Rabiot handball was ‘unacceptable and it’s disrespectful to hear them say there wasn’t clear footage.’

The Derby d’Italia was decided by a controversial incident in the first half, as Filip Kostic was left unmarked to drill into the far bottom corner.

However, Rabiot appeared to control the ball with his arm in the build-up, but a long VAR review was unable to find conclusive footage to overturn the referee’s decision.

It was remarkably similar to last week’s win over Sampdoria, where again Rabiot gave the impression of controlling with his arm, but the camera angles were not enough to consider it ‘a clear and obvious error.’

“There is a bitter sense of disappointment after a defeat that happened in this way,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

“We had said that we would not speak again about this after Monza in January, because something very serious happened. Tonight, something just as serious happened.

“We conceded a goal that is unacceptable in the age of VAR. It is even more unacceptable and disrespectful to hear them say there wasn’t clear footage. We are bitter and ask for respect.

“Talking about the game as a coach is difficult after that. I saw 20 different images that show it was his arm.”

Luca Marelli, the former referee and officiating pundit for DAZN, explained it was a very similar situation to last week against Sampdoria, that Rabiot has the sensation of handball, but no certainty, which is why the VAR check took so long.

“I listen to what a professional says, but I cannot accept it. What we saw was too serious, I honestly struggle to talk about the match.”

Inter dominated possession at San Siro, but ultimately forced few real saves from Wojciech Szczesny and were caught out on the counter.

“We have played against Juventus many times, we knew that they would be dangerous on the counter-attack, as that is their main threat. We made a few more mistakes than usual, but we are still talking about a game that was clearly affected by a refereeing error and slows down our progress in Serie A and towards the Champions League qualification.

“The lads saw what happened on the field, they didn’t need the replays, and they did very well to remain focused in the second half considering those circumstances.”

This result means Inter lose second place to Lazio, who are now on 52 points, and Milan remain only two points behind the Nerazzurri.

Juventus close to 41 points, but if they win the appeal against their 15-point penalty for inflated transfer fees to boost capital gains on April 19, then the Old Lady will be on 56.

Inzaghi has been trying to shake things up recently by moving to four at the back and adding more creative players behind the strikers.

“I put Correa as a trequartista and the strikers slightly wider. It is something we are trying to recover trailing situations, but our system remains the 3-5-2.”

Asked if there is a Cup version of Inter and a Serie A one, Inzaghi agreed, but also brought the issue back to that handball.

“I agree, but must also say that tonight we didn’t make mistakes, it was a mistake from the referees. We had a few errors, but had approached this game with Juve as if it was a final. I have no complaints about my team.”

Inter and Juventus will meet again in the Coppa Italia semi-finals next month, playing home and away.

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