Referee Michael Oliver has come under fire for his refereeing display as Inter Milan beat Young Boys in the Champions League.
Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, argues that the English official failed to give two sendings-off in the match.
Yesterday’s match between Young Boys and Inter was not necessarily an easy one to referee.
The hosts made it a physical contest, with an aggressive approach aimed at unsettling Inter in possession and forcing them to turn the ball over in dangerous area.
There were plenty of occasions where the Swiss team played aright at the edge of committing fouls.
Premier League referee Oliver did give a number of fouls both ways. There were also a number of yellow cards, particularly for Young Boys players.
But in the view of the Corriere, the English referee missed what should have been two fairly blatant red cards.
Michael Oliver Lambasted For Failing To Send Off Two Young Boys Players
Firstly, there is the matter of Inter’s penalty at the start of the second half.
Striker Marko Arnautovic missed his effort from the spot. This meant that Inter had to wait until the end of the second half to score rather than managing it right at the start.
And as far as the awarding of the penalty there was little controversy.
Young Boys left-back Jaouen Hadjam quite blatantly hauled down Inter wingback Denzel Dumfries inside the penalty area.
But in the view of the Corriere, Hadjam’s challenge was also certainly worthy of a yellow card.
And considering that the 21-year-old was already on a booking, the newspaper argues, it would have been correct for him to see red.
But English referee Oliver approached the situation in a lax manner, preferring to keep it at eleven against eleven.
Then, the Corriere also highlight an incident in which Young Boys striker Joel Monteiro appeared to slap Dumfries in the back of the head.
For the newspaper, there is no doubt that this was worthy of a straight red card.
However, neither Oliver nor his VAR Stuart Atwell saw it this way. And for the Corriere, both got it very wrong in failing to respond to the incident properly.
