Former referee Luca Marelli explains why he would have shown a straight red card to Domenico Berardi when Sassuolo beat Juventus, but also why VAR could not intervene to change the decision.
There was controversy during the Serie A match at the Mapei Stadium when Berardi caught Gleison Bremer with studs on his shinpad.
Members of the Juve squad as well as those on the bench called for a straight red card, though Andrea Colombo opted only for a yellow.
There was a pause while the VAR officials evaluated the footage and then said that play could continue.
“The incident deserves to be evaluated carefully, because there are good reasons why all these decisions were made,” explained Marelli in his role as refereeing pundit on DAZN.
“VAR can only intervene to correct a clear and obvious error, which in this case was not warranted. Considering that Berardi’s knee was bent when he made contact with the shin and that there was not a great deal of power behind it, there was insufficient evidence to overturn the decision made by the referee.
“Having said that, I personally would’ve given a red card and felt that the referee should have punished this with a dismissal, but he evaluated the incident on the field and that is what will remain.”