Mertens lets go in the penalty area of Fiorentina but the referee assigns the penalty to the Campania players anyway
FLORENCE – It is only the first day of the Serie A championship but the slow-moving episodes already trigger controversy on social networks. The first half of Fiorentina-Napoli was characterized by two important slow-motion episodes that led the referee Massa to assign two penalty kicks, one to Fiorentina and one to Napoli.
The first eleven-meter pitch was awarded for a touch with Zielinski's arm on a play by Castrovilli with his knee in Fiorentina's penalty area. At normal speed, the referee had not noticed anything but was called to order by his assistants present in the VAR room. After a long interview, the referee Massa went to view the VAR monitor on the sideline and decided to assign the penalty to Fiorentina. Pulgar, the new signing of Fiorentina from Bologna, did not miss the eleven meters.
Napoli drew the score at 37 'with a right-footed shot from Mertens deflected into the net by a Fiorentina goalkeeper Dragowski. Two minutes later, at 39 ', here is the other great slow motion episode of the game. After a repayment in the penalty area of Fiorentina, the ball got up and Mertens gave the impression of looking for contact with the purple defender Castrovilli.
At normal speed, it seemed rigor but by reviewing the images it is clear how Castrovilli does nothing to lay Mertens. Indeed, it is Mertens himself who seeks contact with the Fiorentina footballer and then lets himself fall to the ground in a fairly coarse manner.
At this point, there was a brief silent check between the referee Massa and his assistants in front of the VAR room monitors. Incredibly none of them reported that there was no rigor. So the referee confirmed his decision and Insigne gave Napoli the advantage with a practically perfect transformation.
Fiorentina-Napoli, social furious: "Penalty on non-existent Mertens. Then they say about Juventus … ".
On social media, they didn't take it well. Many fans, some of them also from Naples, have posted tweets against the referee and against the non-use of the var: "What is technology to do if the referee does not go to review this episode?". Or: "Were they sleeping in the VAR room? Inexistent rigor. And then they say about Juventus … ".
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Source: Blitz Quotidiano