‘Madness’ – Italian fury continues over huge refereeing moment in Liverpool’s win against Inter | OneFootball

A former Inter Milan goalkeeper has vented his fury over the penalty decision which went against the Nerazzurri in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at the San Siro last week.

After referee Felix Zwayer consulted VAR, he pointed to the spot upon seeing a shirt tug by Alessandro Bastoni on Florian Wirtz, whose fall to the turf was admittedly melodramatic, and Dominik Szoboszlai duly converted an 88th-minute winner from 12 yards.

Both Jamie Carragher and Andy Robertson acknowledged that the awarding of the penalty may have been charitable, although the former rightly described it as a ‘daft’ moment from the Italy defender.

Ex-Inter goalie rages over penalty decision

Many current and former Inter players were incensed over the decision, including Emiliano Viviano, the ex-Arsenal goalkeeper who spent a season on the Nerazzurri’s payroll but never played competitively for the Milan club.

The 40-year-old didn’t hold back with his assessment, telling TV Play (via Inter News): “For me, that stuff is the death of football. Even a top referee I asked told me that this is madness, not a penalty… The insults? I don’t care at all.

“The Liverpool players and manager were struggling to answer questions about this penalty. It goes back to my battle with logic: the players are stuck in their positions, one has his back turned. Even if he pulls his shirt, it’s not a penalty for me.

“I would have said the same if it had been called on an Italian team, even [his local club] Fiorentina. Even if Alessandro Bastoni is naive, that’s never a penalty.”

Image via Amazon Prime Video Sport

Bastoni can only have himself to blame

We can somewhat understand the fury from those of an Inter persuasion over the penalty being given, with Wirtz going to ground rather easily.

However, as Carragher pointed out, there was absolutely no need for Bastoni to grab the German’s shirt – especially as our number 7 had his back to goal – and the Nerazzurri defender gave the officials ample excuse to intervene.

Liverpool fans would also argue with justification that we were hard done by over a decision in the first half at the San Siro that night, when Ibrahima Konate had a goal ruled out for a very harsh handball decision against Hugo Ekitike, so both teams had grievances wih the officials at San Siro.

For Viviano to describe the penalty incident as ‘the death of football’ is more than a tad extreme. If he thought that was a miscarriage of justice, imagine what he’d make of Diego Gomez getting away with a yellow card for booting Wirtz in the chest at Anfield last weekend.

The outcry evidently seems to still be going on in Italy, but the Reds were deserving winners on the night for their overall performance, a result made even more impressive by being achieved amid the fallout from Mo Salah’s explosive interview three days previously.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Brighton press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: