Inter defender Danilo D’Ambrosio does not believe that there is any reason for a penalty to have been given for his challenge in the first half of the Nerazzurri’s win over Empoli yesterday evening.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match, the 33-year-old stated that he felt the challenge was not a foul and praised the referee for waving play on.

D’Ambrosio had an eventful match on his first start for the Nerazzurri this season, making a vital last-ditch clearance early on before being involved in a challenge that Empoli felt was a penalty and then scoring the Nerazzurri’s opener in the 2-0 win.

The 33-year-old showed that he remains a reliable presence in the team even when he is not one of the regular starters, and he also showed his leadership qualities and the affection he has for the rest of the squad when he chose to celebrate with teammate Denzel Dumfries.

He joked that he couldn’t locate the Dutchman at first when he ran to celebrate, stating that “I couldn’t find him. He didn’t understand that I wanted to dedicate the goal to him. I wanted to do it as an expression of the concept of the team, of an ‘us’ more important than ‘I’. We have been on this wavelength in the last two years and we want to continue like this.”

“The right things are always carried forward and taken as an example,” he stated. “This concept was transmitted by Conte and we are carrying it forward with the great Inzaghi, we must continue along this path.”

On the transition from Conte to Simone Inzaghi he said that “Even if at the beginning of last year, Conte asked of us the same things. Then after Sassuolo there was a turning point.”

And on hischallenge which Empoli felt was a penalty he said, “A penalty is when the referee blows the whistle, In my opinion he had a perfect view of it, you can’t whistle everything, otherwise we’re playing another sport. I prefer that in situations like this you let usplay, there was no an obvious touch that does not allow the attacker to remain standing, the decision was correct.”