Milan’s defeat to Spezia tonight was overshadowed by complaints regarding referee Marco Serra, but the Rossoneri need to take responsibility as Inter stay top of the table.
The Rossoneri went into the half time break fully in control at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium; 1-0 up thanks to Rafael Leao, having 61% possession and 12 shots to Spezia’s two. Theo Hernandez may have missed a penalty, but it didn’t seem likely that it would be too costly. So how did everything turn upside down for Stefano Pioli’s side?
Milan kept up the pressure in the second half, having 60% possession and taking 13 shots to the Ligurian side’s eight, but they failed to break down the Rossoblu, coming up blank in the final third.
Only four of their shots were on target, one less than Spezia, and Pioli failed to adapt to the match, allowing their opponents to push their way back into the game, as seen with the 64th minute equaliser.
It’s incredibly easy to blame the referee for Milan’s defeat, pointing to his inconsistent decision making, missed calls and inability to control the match. He also blew the whistle too early in the dying minutes of the match, denying the Milanese club a late winner as he called the play back to a free kick.
Of course, he didn’t know that the wasted free kick would end in a Spezia counter attack and last second winner. The referee also didn’t intentionally scupper Junior Messias’ goal, although he was a little hasty with his whistle, and other teams have also fallen victim to this exact problem this season, such as Roma back in their 1-0 loss to Juventus back in October.
Milan need to take responsibility for the defeat and work on their issues in the final third, as they rely too much on Leao and his creative play. Inter didn’t play particularly well in their 0-0 draw with Atalanta on Sunday, but they still picked up a crucial point and are continuing to fly at the top of the table. The Rossoneri, on the other hand, need to take a long hard look in the mirror before they let the Scudetto get away from them.
Did the referee make Theo miss his penalty? No. Did Provedel deserve to be on the losing team? No. Did Spezia score two fair and square goals? Yes. Sometimes referees play advantage and get berated. They don’t play advantage and still get berated. He gave the free kick thinking it was a dangerous position, and the rest is history. The defending on both Spezia goals on the part of both centre backs was terrible. At this level, you have to take your chances. If Spezia were 2-1 up when the referee didn’t give the advantage, I’d feel more annoyed. But he wasn’t the reason Milan got done on the counter and lost a point.
Only In Italy does a Spezia foul save them from being scored against ! If Spezia creates the foul then Milan deserves to play the advantage. and in this case Milan scored a goal fair and square ! Just remember: THE REFEREE WILL BE SUSPENDED FOR THIS MISTAKE !
Milan players shouldn’t be allowed to grab the referee by the head like that. Two match ban seems appropriate.
Agree with Chris,the ref thought it was the best now if the foul was in the penalty box and the shot was off target,but the ref played advantage,milan fans would still be mad
Deserved win for Spezia, arguably the better team. Napol would like to congratulate both teams for a good clean match. Scudetto for Inter and theres nothing you can do about it.
Let the peasants Milan and Juve fight it out for 4th.
Apollo has a point when he has that there is more to blame than the ref. Rebic collapsed screaming in apparent agony after being fouled on the edge of the square. Everybody shouted FOUL! The ref most likely was influenced by the screams by Rebic and instantly blew for a bad foul. According to the papers the AIA have rushed to give a personal apology to Milan for the referee’s mistakes. What is that about? Why did the AIA need to apologise the Milan? Are we all going to just ignore that a Milan player grabbed/held the referee by his actual head? Will there be any fines or suspensions imposed on Milan? No. However, the ref is getting suspended. I would love to know what Susy thinks of it?