Inter extended their advantage in the Serie A standings to 15 points after securing a 2-1 victory against Genoa at home. However, there was controversy surrounding the penalty awarded to the victorious team.
In his 300th Serie A match as manager, Simone Inzaghi had cause for celebration as his Inter team maintained their perfect record in the league this year with nine straight victories, matching their points tally from the entire previous season.
According to Inzaghi during an interview with Sky Sport after the game, we have control over our own destiny. In a span of 33 days, we managed to increase our lead over Juventus and Milan by 15 points. However, instead of celebrating, we must continue to focus on the future ahead of us.
Genoa showed determination from the beginning and nearly scored in the middle of the first half when Mateo Retegui’s header was saved by Inter’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Albert Gudmundsson was the first to try and score off the rebound, but he missed the mark.
Kristjan Asllani opened the scoring at the 30-minute mark with a shot into the top of the net from inside the penalty area, assisted by Alexis Sánchez’s through pass.
After eight minutes, Inter received a penalty when Morten Frendrup seemed to trip Nicolò Barella in the penalty area. The referee, Giovanni Ayroldi, was asked to review the VAR monitor on the side of the pitch, but ultimately upheld his initial call despite unclear evidence of a foul in the replays.
Sánchez successfully scored the penalty, giving Inter a 2-0 lead. However, a different camera angle revealed that Frendrup had unintentionally redirected Barella’s shot into the side netting, but this angle was not seen by Ayroldi on the monitor.
After the break, Genoa scored a goal when Johan Vásquez kicked in a clearance from Inter’s defender Stefan de Vrij. The opposing team almost tied the game with a goal from substitute Vitinha, but it was ruled out for being offside during the buildup.
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After the match, Genoa’s coach Alberto Gilardino displayed a generous attitude towards the ruling. “Initially, it didn’t seem like a penalty to me and now, upon viewing the footage, we can confirm that,” Gilardino stated to Sky.
While there is uncertainty, I would rather focus on the impressive display shown by my team’s brave and talented players. Officials are only human and mistakes can be made, but upon reviewing the footage, measures should be taken to minimize the chances of error.
Genoa falls to 12th place with 33 points after their defeat. In the race for the title, Inter extends their lead to 72 points after Napoli beat second-placed Juventus 2-1 on Sunday.
Source: theguardian.com
