Sunday’s VAR decision cancelled a late winner, but may have been made in error
• 2 min read
One of Serie A’s most controversial refereeing decisions in recent memory took place this weekend in Turin. Juventus and Salernitana played to a 2-2 draw on Sunday in a match filled with drama and surprising twists and turns. In what was supposed to be an easy result for Massimiliano Allegri’s, they found themselves down 2-0 at halftime after a disappointing start to the match, where the guests scored first thanks to an Antonio Candreva strike and then with former Fiorentina striker Krzysztof Piatek putting home a penalty. After the break Juventus got one back with new signing Gleison Bremer, and then had an opportunity to equalize in stoppage time when Leonardo Bonucci had a penalty saved but scored on the rebound. So even before the controversy, the match was a fairly eventful one. But you ain’t seen nothing yet.
After the equalizer, with the fans exploding in celebration, the Bianconeri were able to find yet another opportunity to score thanks to another new signing, Arek Milik, getting free from a corner kick in the 94th minute. The Polish striker celebrated in front of the fans and the whole place generally went crazy, with Milik was sent off by the referee because he took off his jersey for the celebration and received his second yellow card. Then came VAR. The referee asked to the Salernitana players to wait for the restart of the match because as VAR was checked for offside, a decision that would result in huge controversy
The referee was called by the VAR to check on the goal because Leonardo Bonucci was considered in and ffside and he (from the VAR point of view) interfered the goalkeeper’s view. While it was clear that the Italian defender did not touch the ball, and it’s also unlikely that his position had an impact with the goalkeeper’s chances of saving the header, he did attempt to play the ball which can cause one to get ruled to be impacting play. Either way, the decision to award offside for that action was already a controversial decision and both Juan Cuadrado and coach Max Allegri were sent off for their complains when VAR overturned the goal. But wait, there’s more.
After the match, Sky Italy dug up another image which showed that Salernitana player Antonio Candreva was not in line with the position of the offside line and that he appeared to be keeping Bonucci onside.
The Italian broadcaster suggested that the VAR didn’t consider the position of Candreva because it was not part of the image that was evaluated by both VAR and referee, a sort of bug in the TV system that assist the technology used by the VAR. It’s important to remember that this argument from Sky Italy has not been proven yet, but it’s likely that the Italian Association of Referees will take an official position and explain what happened in Turin Sunday night. Juventus fans and the club are rightfully demanding some answers.
