Referee Maurizio Mariani came in for criticism for the manner in which he officiated Inter’s 2-1 win over Cremonese in Serie A yesterday evening.

As reported in today’s newspaper edition of Tuttosport, the Roman referee underwhelmed at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, and he was awarded a lowly 5 in their post-match ratings for his display.

The main point of the criticism centred on Mariani’s decision not to award Inter a penalty in the second half after Cremonese defender Vlad Chiriches challenged striker Edin Dzeko, but it was deemed that the Romanian had not committed a foul.

Tuttosport argued that Mariani had made a mistake after Chiriches had trodden on Dzeko’s foot, and Inter ought to have been given a penalty.

However, the newspaper did not criticise him for his decision to only show Inter defender Francesco Acerbi a yellow card in the first half for a foul on David Okereke as he broke clear, rather than a red.

It was argued that the challenge fell between a yellow and a red, with Alessandro Bastoni covering to avoid Acerbi being the last man and being sent off, but not close enough to fully absolve his teammate.