Referee Maurizio Mariani made the correct call in deciding against awarding Inter a penalty in their 2-1 win over Cremonese in Serie A yesterday.
As reported in today’s newspaper edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Nerazzurri wanted a spot kick for a challenge on Edin Dzeko by Vlad Chiriches, but Mariani was correct in refusing to give the visitors the penalty at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.
The incident occurred in the 55th minute, with former Tottenham Hotspur defender Chiriches challenging Dzeko in the box and failing to get the ball, but making impact with the Inter striker.
Despite this, the contact was not sufficient to be worth a foul, with VAR also not deeming it strong enough to intervene.
Elsewhere, the newspaper argued that Mariani was also correct in only issuing Inter defender Francesco Acerbi a yellow card instead of a straight red for a first half challenge on David Okereke, whilst Hakan Calhanoglu was fortunate not to be sent off for dissent.
