While Il Corriere dello Sport wrote that referee Luca Pairetto helped Inter by not showing Samir Handanovic a red card, La Gazzetta dello Sport argued Gregoire Defrel looked for the contact with the Nerazzurri captain.
There was controversy on the stroke of half-time, with Sassuolo calling for Inter goalkeeper Handanovic to be sent off for a coming together with their striker Defrel.
The former Roma man pounced on a Stefan de Vrij back pass, flicking it to the right.
Handanovic and Defrel connected outside the box with the former Slovenia international who touched the Frenchman with his arm.
Referee Luca Pairetto waved play on and no foul no red card was given.
Il Corriere dello Sport rated Pairetto 4/10, arguing that Handanovic should have seen red.
The goalkeeper, in fact, appeared to touch Defrel both with his arm and with his leg, so he should have been sent off with Inter already 1-0 down.
La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport didn’t share the same view. The referee was rated 5.5/10 and the pink paper explained why Handanovic wasn’t sent off.
“The goalkeeper did everything to avoid Defrel, but touched him with his elbow,” they wrote.
“The intensity of the contact is assessed on the pitch, VAR didn’t intervene and the referee thought it was the striker who was looking for the contact.”
Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi complained about the referee’s decision after the game.
“Inevitably, the lads were upset during the break for the incident that everyone saw,” Dionisi told Sky Sport Italia.
“Seeing the footage again, it just confirms the impression I had from the touchline, which is that it was a red card.
“What I can say about that is that the referee made a mistake. Coaches make mistakes, players make mistakes, so do referees.”