Former Serie A referee Graziano Cesari feels that there was no reason to disallow Inter’s second goal against Roma in yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia win.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset after the match, the former official stated that the challenge by Inter midfielder Arturo Vidal on his Roma counterpart Sergio Oliveira in the buildup to Alexis Sanchez’s goal wasn’t a foul.
Sanchez’s brilliant long-range effort proved to be hugely important in changing the dynamic of the second half, with the Giallorossi deflated as they no longer needed just one goal, and the Nerazzurri suddenly feeling much more secure.
However, Roma players and staff appealed for a possible foul by Vidal in the buildup, hoping that VAR would intervene to rule the strike out and the Nerazzurri’s lead would be cut back to just one goal.
However, no such intervention came, and in the view of Cesari, this was the correct decision.
“Sergio Oliveira realized that he had miscontrolled the ball, which is no longer in his possession, and tries to win it off Vidal who does well not to let him get to it,” he characterized the incident.
“Vidal’s challenge is not a foul,” he concluded, “it is a clean tackle and the goal is completely fair.”