Former referee Luca Marelli has explained why AC Milan were not awarded a penalty for an incident in the first half of the 2-2 draw against Salernitana on Friday night.
Speaking whilst on DAZN’s coverage of the action (via Milan News), Marelli explained why Federico Fazio was not penalised when the ball struck his arm in the penalty box early in the match.
ironically, it was Fazio who went on to make it 1-1 at the end of the first half with a superb header from a corner.
There were protests on the pitch and a VAR check after the supposed handball, but play continued and Milan were left with just a corner.
Marelli compared the incident to Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s handball against Fiorentina which also did not result in a penalty. This was because the player’s arm, whilst outstretched, is moving towards the body, rather than towards the ball.
“Milan demanded a penalty kick for a touch of the arm on [Rafael] Leao’s shot, a decision that is very similar to the penalty not awarded in Milan v Fiorentina for Loftus-Cheek’s arm touch. This is because it is an arm that does not move outwards but towards the body. It is very similar, conceptually, to the one in Milan-Fiorentina. The arm does not tend to extend but to move towards the body. At the moment of the deflection the arm is quite close to the body, giving the feeling that it is a congruous movement,” he said.
It did not take long for Milan to take the lead anyway as Fikayo Tomori soon headed the Rossoneri into the lead, but they could not hold onto the three points.
Fazio’s header and a shot from Antonio Candreva that Mike Maignan should have saved put the Granata 2-1 up, before Luka Jovic’s late equaliser.
