Referee Davide Massa was very lenient to not award a penalty to Inter for contact between striker Edin Dzeko and AC Milan defender Matteo Gabbia in the Milan derby yesterday evening.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that there was more than enough in the coming-together in the penalty area for the official to point to the spot.

Massa was assigned to his first ever Milan derby, and the official looked determined to mostly let the teams play and not whistle for relatively minor fouls.

This was certainly reflected in how the referee approached the situation between Dzeko and Gabbia in the Rossoneri penalty area during the first half.

The Inter striker furiously appealed for a penalty after his Milan counterpart put in a two-handed shove that sent him tumbling to the ground, but Massa was unmoved.

In the view of the Gazzetta, it was not necessarily a clear error by the referee, but at the same time, it showed great leniency given that there was more than enough force to the push by the 23-year-old that it could have been given as a foul inside the area.