Former Inter and Napoli striker Arturo Di Napoli believes that the challenge of Inter wingback Federico Dimarco on Fiorentina midfielder Giocomo Benaventura in Saturday’s Serie A clash was not worthy of a red card.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster TMW Radio, Di Napoli also suggested that the controversial challenge by striker Edin Dzeko in the buildup to the Nerazzurri’s last minute winner was not a clear foul but could reasonably be given as one.
Inter’s 4-3 win over Fiorentina was hardly without incident.
Apart from the number of goals, there were a few refereeing controversies.
In the first half, La Viola were awarded a penalty for a late and high Dimarco challenge on Bonaventura by VAR.
In the eyes of many commentators, this tackle would have been worthy of a straight red card in addition to the penalty.
For his part, however, Di Napoli said that “I think it was a foul because of the straight leg, but I don’t think it was a red card because it wasn’t at all intentional.”
Regarding the incident between Dzeko and Viola defender Nikola Milenkovic, where Dzeko bumped Milenkovic off the ball which Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano felt should have been a foul, Di Napoli felt that the incident was 50/50.
“It depends a lot on the intensity of the contact,” he said, “I think the defender just loses the flight of the ball a bit there, and Dzeko is clever.”
He added that “I think it was an error by the defender, although if a foul had been whistled it would hardly have been a scandal.”