Former Serie A referee Graziano Cesari believes the foul on Lautaro Martinez was a “clear penalty” for Inter Milan against Udinese.
Cesari analyzed the incident speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews.
Nerazzurri captain Martinez was absolutely adamant that he had been fouled just after the half-hour mark of yesterday evening’s match.
The 26-year-old had gotten the wrong side of Udinese defender Perez with his run.
And then Perez put an arm on Martinez’s shoulder.
It was not necessarily the most forceful of pulls on the Inter striker. But the contact was certainly there.
Martinez went to ground and was certain that Perez had pulled him back illegally.
Referee Marco Di Bello did not initially point to the spot.
Martinez’s appeals did not convince the official, who appeared to see it as just a minor incidental contact and not sufficient to award a foul.
But then the VAR advised Di Bello to have a second look at the incident.
The referee went over to his monitor and changed his decision.
Di Bello gave the penalty, which Hakan Calhanoglu subsequently scored to give Inter the lead.
Cesari: Foul On Lautaro Martinez A “Clear Penalty” For Inter Vs Udinese
There have been some suggestions that the penalty was overly “soft.” It was not necessarily a strong contact between Perez and Martinez.
But in the view of former Serie A official Cesari, there is no doubt about it whatsoever.
The retired referee feels that it is absolutely certain that there was enough in it to give a penalty.
“The one on Lautaro is a penalty,” the former referee argued.
“An absolutely clear penalty.”
“The Argentine striker had gotten the wrong side of his man and was beating him to the ball. And he was fouled.”
In conclusion he added that “this was a clear and obvious error that the referee had missed. And then it was corrected by VAR.”
