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WATCH: Inter Were The Victims Of A Very Suspicious Decision Against Juventus

WATCH: Inter Were The Victims Of A Very Suspicious Decision Against Juventus

What is the reason behind this call?

Joe Baiamonte

Joe Baiamonte

It wasn't just penalty decisions that went against Inter during last weekend's Derby d'Italia, with Stefano Pioli's men also the victims of an incredibly suspect judgement call during the second half of their 1-0 defeat to Juventus.

A scintillating strike from Juan Cuadrado settled matters, but the scoreline didn't tell the whole story, with the Nerazzurri becoming incensed with referee Nicola Rizzoli, who turned down two penalty calls in the first half.

Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic have both since been banned for two games each for their complaints about Rizzoli, with Inter manager Pioli telling Sky Sport Italia, "There was some tension at the final whistle, certainly, because of the Perisic red card, but also the two penalties in the first half," Pioli told Sky Sport Italia. We played on level terms with Juventus and created the chances, but the incidents did not favour us. The images are clear, Mandzukic's tackle was a penalty and it should've been awarded.

"I used to be a defender, so I can tell Chiellini lost his man and lifted his elbow on Icardi. That's the regret, that we lost because of a distraction on their goal and for mistakes that were not our own. These were important incidents and all those decisions went one way."

Pioli is of course referencing Chiellini's elbow on Icardi and Mandzukic's foul that prevented the Inter captain from reaching a rebound. However, neither of those calls are perhaps as controversial as the one that halted Icardi's progress towards goal midway through the second half.

Initially Perisic is correctly adjudged to have been offside, bringing an end to an Inter attack. The free kick then seems to be taken from the spot it was awarded, by Alex Sandro, who rolls it to Chiellini. Chiellini then plays an abysmal ball towards Gianluigi Buffon, without realising he's just released Icardi into a one on one situation with the Juventus captain.

However, before Icardi can pull the trigger, play is inexplicably called back, much to the Argentine's chagrin.



One reason for the official to have brought play back was because the free kick was taken with a 'moving ball', but as the footage above proves, the ball is perfectly steady when Chiellini rolls it towards Buffon.

As if the rivalry between these two clubs needed any more fuel on the fire.

(H/T 101 Great Goals)

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Internazionale, Football, Serie A, Juventus, Italy, Inter Milan