Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic has come in for some criticism in Italian media for his handling of Inter’s Champions League match against Porto yesterday, particularly a failure to award the Nerazzurri a penalty in the second half.
Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, argue that the official should’ve pointed to the spot for Galeno’s challenge on Matteo Darmian, and also that Otavio should’ve received a second yellow card earlier on in the match.
Jovanovic saw the incident between Porto winger Galeno and Inter wingback Darmian in Porto’s penalty area, but did not judge the contact to be sufficient to be considered a foul.
In the view of the Corriere, however, it was more than enough, and the failure to point to the spot was an error by the referee.
Meanwhile, the newspaper argues, Jovanovic never really had a handle on proceedings all night as emotions threatened to boil over all evening, and was partially responsible for a touchline fracas towards the end of the first half.