Referee Michael Oliver was correct to award a penalty to Inter in the second half of the Nerazzurri’s 2-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg yesterday evening.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who praise the English official for getting the major decisions right, particularly the spot kick for a Joao Mario handball just inside the area.
Inter got a potentially decisive second goal yesterday following Nicolo Barella’s opener, and it came from the penalty spot.
Striker Romelu Lukaku held his nerve well to slot his effort home to double the Nerazzurri’s advantage.
The penalty was awarded by Oliver after the VAR official Pol van Boekel told him to go and have a look at the monitor to check for a potential handball by Benfica and former Nerazzurri midfielder Joao Mario.
Oliver decided to point to the spot, and in the Gazzetta’s view he was correct to do so.
29-year-old Portuguese international Mario blocked a Denzel Dumfries cross, initially with his head but then with his arm.
Whilst it is true that the initial contact was made with the midfielder’s head before the ball deflected onto his arm, the arm was outstretched and completely altered the trajectory of the ball, and so the awarding of a penalty was completely correct.
Meanwhile, the other two major decisions that Oliver had to make were penalty appeals by Benfica that were both waved away.
One was for a possible Matteo Darmian handball inside the area.
There was contact by the 33-year-old’s arm on an Alex Grimaldo shot in the first half, but since the shot had deflected off the Nerazzurri defender’s thigh at point blank range the Gazzetta argues that Oliver was correct not to award a spot kick.
Meanwhile, Benfica also wanted a penalty given for Alessandro Bastoni’s challenge to clear the ball away through the legs of striker Goncalo Ramos.
It is true that the 23-year-old had to go through the Benfica player’s legs to make contact with the ball, but make contact he did and he clearly got the ball away with a last-ditch effort so there was no foul in the view of Oliver, which the Gazzetta concurs with.
As for the English official’s overall display, the newspaper argue that it was largely fine, although he may have blown his whistle a few too many times and gone to his pocket hastily in booking Benfica defender Antonio Silva and then Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.
