Roma coach Jose Mourinho hit out at Lazio in his press conference, claiming ‘after 22 years you can still win with a goal that is offside,’ but question marks remain over that victory against Lazio.
The two Capital rivals are now level on points in the Serie A table, as the Biancocelesti beat Spezia 4-3 last night, while the Giallorossi were held to a 0-0 draw by Bologna this evening.
Having been critical of referees in his post-match interview with DAZN, Mourinho took an even stronger approach in the press conference.
“The story has not changed. I’ve been coaching for 22 years and nothing changes. Oh many things have changed in football, but in general, you lot never do,” he said waving at the reporters.
“Another thing that never changes is that 22 years ago you could win a match with a goal that is offside and you can still do it today. Yesterday, a team won a match with a goal that was offside.”
Mourinho was referring to the last-gasp Francesco Acerbi winner, which saw him flick the ball back over himself into the empty net.
Images have circulated on social media suggesting Acerbi was in an offside position, as the Spezia goalkeeper was further in front, meaning Acerbi had to be at least level with two outfield players instead.
DAZN and Sky Sport Italia have tried to analyse the footage, but nobody has been able to see the version viewed by VAR with the lines drawn on with a computer that takes the camera angle and perspective into account.
Because the decision to give the goal was very quick by VAR, there is the suggestion they did not realise the goalkeeper was further in front and therefore only took the last defender as the line for the offside position.
This would be an error, as offside requires two players from the opposition team to be at least level, usually including the goalkeeper.