Multiple refereeing experts and pundits argue Atalanta midfielder Hans Hateboer should’ve seen red for his studs-up tackle on Milan forward Rafael Leao.
The game ended 1-1 in Bergamo last night with goals from Ruslan Malinovskyi and Ismael Bennacer.
However, it could’ve been a different match had VAR intervened or the referee evaluated this particular incident differently.
Hateboer was shown the yellow card for his lunge at Leao by the touchline just three minutes into the second half.
Former referees Luca Marelli on DAZN and Graziano Cesari on Mediaset both insist that was a foul worthy of a straight red card.
“If Leao doesn’t let his toes slide along the turf, then this is a very nasty tackle that puts the safety of the player at risk. VAR has to intervene,” argued Cesari.
Marelli noted it had “all the elements required of a red card offence, as the studs were showing, the leg was taut and contact above the ankle.”
I generally don’t like it when a team is reduced to 10 men, but this is not surprising at all. VAR rarely works as intended when it comes to Milan. Never mind last season’s goals and handballs, at least protect the player’s leg from being broken.
What about the professional foul in the first half?? He turned to face Leao and fully forced his shoulder into his chest without even looking at the ball. The referee didn’t even give a foul 🤦🏻♂️
I like tough tackling calcio but this was a complete miss by the refs. It doesn’t matter where your allegiance lies. I hope the Milan players and specifically Leao remember this for the second tilt of the season. I sure would remind him the first time Hateboer has the ball at his feet. In these situations…i miss Rino. He would have straightened him out.
Inter fan here and I agree, that clearly should’ve been a red card. But please, don’t make this into a “refs don’t like Milan” thing, as last week you guys got a BS 11th penalty against Udinese, and a similarly nasty tackle on Lautaro against Lecce that should’ve been a red card wasn’t. We have a refereeing problem in general.
And yes, Rino would’ve “straightened him out”, and gotten a red card in the process like he would every 3 or 4 games lmao. I love how Milan fans idolize such a terrible player. All that dude knew how to do was hack other players down, fight, and say stupidly controversial things. No wonder he’s turned out to be a terrible coach too, dude was never a smart player.
Greaseman85
Gattuso ‘terrible player’ 😂😂😂
FI are still allowing room temperature IQ invalids to comment.
The referees in Italy did announce they would follow the British school of referring games, blowing less for niggly tackles and keeping the game flowing more. This might be an incident where the refs are still getting used to the new rules