REF REVIEW Serie A Matchday 1: Giacomelli botched Napoli game
In this column, we ask expert Enrico Chiesa what he makes of the biggest talking points over the weekend, and to focus on the best (and worst) calls from Matchday 1.
HOWLERS GALORE!
Bologna-Crotone: “Gavillucci, a young but inexperience referee, was wrong to chalk off Bologna’s goal on 23 minutes, and was led astray by his linesman De Pinto. In the same half he also gave Crotone a penalty for a supposed Alex Cordaz foul on Simone Verdi, only to change his mind when his assistants pointed out that the attacker was offside. Great team-work”.
Empoli-Sampdoria: “Mariani was draconian when he gave Massimo Maccarone a straight red for a foul on Edgar Barreto. Riccardo Saponara, on the other hand, should have immediately seen red for a hard foul on Fabio Quagliarella”.
Pescara-Napoli: “Giacomelli made a shocking error in giving Napoli a penalty for a foul on Piotr Zielinski. His assistant was providential in pointing out that Raul Albiol had previously fouled Albano Bizzarri, inducing Giacomelli to give Pescara the free kick. Great collaboration once again”.
HOW THEY RATED (out of 10, 6 being decent, 7 good)
Roma-Udinese: Di Bello 5.
Juventus-Fiorentina: Massa 6.
Milan-Torino: Damato 7 (“A ref who has come into his own, he showed great personality in giving Torino a penalty at the San Siro”).
Atalanta-Lazio: Banti 6,5.
Bologna-Crotone: Gavillucci 5.
Chievo-Inter: Irrati 5,5 (“Ranocchia should have been given a yellow for his foul on two minutes on Meggiorni just outside the box”).
Empoli-Sampdoria: Mariani 5,5.
Genoa-Cagliari: Orsato 7.
Palermo-Sassuolo: Pairetto 6.
Pescara-Napoli: Giacomelli 4,5.
ODDITIES
“Atalanta - Lazio saw assistent Alessio be taken ill (he had violent chest pains) and be taken to hospital, to be replace by the fourth referee, Valeriani”.
