DAZN refereeing expert Luca Marelli gave his verdict on the two major incidents that had Spezia furious after the 1-0 defeat to Roma.
The game turned before half-time when Kelvin Amian received a second yellow card for a shirt tug on Lorenzo Pellegrini.
It was considered soft, as it was technically inside the Roma half of the pitch, so not really a clear scoring opportunity.
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“More than the infraction itself, which we can discuss, the moment this foul is whistled, the yellow card is automatic because he was running into space and Amian had left a huge gap with nobody in front of him,” former referee and current pundit Marelli told DAZN.
“It’s true the ball was in his own half and was also going away from goal, but that does not matter. What does make a difference is that there wasn’t much of a shirt tug or push. He had two hands on his back, but the foul itself was up for debate.”
The other incident that made the difference was deep into stoppages, when Riccardo Maggiore and Nicolò Zaniolo both went for the ball at the back post on a corner.
“Zaniolo clearly went to head the ball and Maggiore caught him in the head with an involuntary gesture, but that does not matter, because Zaniolo got to the ball first,” explained Marelli.
“The penalty is inarguable.”
Spezia were still furious, as they felt that Maggiore’s foot was not particularly high, rather than Zaniolo going into the diving header made them connect at that level.
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Second yellow card was very soft.
Penalty seemed correct decision to me.
The height of Zaniolos head is irrelevant because if he had kicked him on the foot it would have also been sanctioned.