Referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi relied on her VAR a lot in yesterday’s Serie A match between Inter Milan and Venezia.
Today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, argue that Ferrireri Caputi was fortunate to have the video assistant – and still got an early penalty decision wrong.
Yesterday’s Serie A match at the San Siro had plenty of refereeing talking points.
The first came around the fifteen minute mark. This concerned an Inter appeal for a penalty.
The origin of the incident was an apparent handball by Venezia wingback Ridgeciano Haps.
There was certainly no question that Haps had handled the ball in the incident. The Dutchman’s arm was blatantly raised.
However, referee Ferrieri Caputi decided against awarding a penalty.
She instead gave a free kick to Venezia for what she saw as a foul on Haps by Inter wingback Denzel Dumfries.
There was certainly physical contact between Dumfries and Haps. There was, however, some doubt as to how much of a shove there really was from the Inter player.
In the view of Tuttosport, Ferrieri Caputi actually got it wrong on that decision. It was very harsh on Dumfries, and a let-off for Venezia.
Ferrieri Caputi Relies On VAR In Inter Vs Venezia Clash
In all of the rest of the major decisions, Ferrieri Caputi consulted a lot with VAR.
First, the referee waited for the VAR to analyze what Inter thought was their opening goal.
The VAR spotted a narrow offside by Inter wingback Federico Dimarco. Therefore, the goal did not count.
Then, there was another offside by Inter striker Marcus Thuram in the buildup to an incident which saw a Mehdi Taremi shot strike the hand of Venezia wingback Marin Sverko.
There was no doubt about the handball.
But the VAR took the incident a little further back, to Thuram’s offside which was not spotted in real time.
And it was another Sverko handball at the centre of the match’s most high profile decision.
Venezia thought they’d scored an equalizer after the 26-year-old bundled in a cross deep into stoppage time.
But the VAR spotted a handball by Sverko. So the goal did not stand.