Napoli defender Juan Jesus explains why he believes ‘the rules are clear’ and Olivier Giroud was impeding him in an offside position for Milan’s disallowed goal.
The game ended 1-0 for the Partenopei at San Siro this evening, thanks to an early Eljif Elmas header on a corner.
Franck Kessie had equalised in the final minute, but it was disallowed using VAR because Giroud was in an offside position and considered to be active.
He was lying underneath Juan Jesus and flat on the ground, so the decision has created a great deal of controversy.
“The rules are clear,” Juan Jesus told DAZN. “Giroud does not allow me to play the ball cleanly and clear it. It’s not easy when you have a player right up against you, especially as Giroud is not a small guy.
“I did all I could in the circumstances, but the rules are clear and should be respected.”
The Brazilian was brought in as a free agent over the summer to play as a left-back, but has become a central defender with injuries to Kostas Manolas and Kalidou Koulibaly.
“I have been in Italy for 10 years, I played for Inter and Roma before Napoli, so I felt confident and know my own quality.
“I realised it was important today to be aggressive on Brahim Diaz. Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn’t as fast as he was, so we could cover both of them. It was a great Napoli performance and we deserve the three points.”
Franck Kessié thought he’d scored an equaliser against Napoli, but VAR rules it out for offside… ❌
Another frustrating moment for Milan. pic.twitter.com/G3bpvomlZ2
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 19, 2021
Lol, got lucky more like
Yes Juan, rules are clear when it plays to your advantage
Great Napoli performence?
They played like a relegation side.. PLaying defence the whole game after early goal form a set piece. Add to that a ton of luck on number of occasions and a favourable ref call. Juan is very happy with tree points and he should be. That is a massive victory over MIlan for team that plays like that.