Double refereeing error confirmed after controversial penalty call in Milan 1-0 Lazio

Controversy continues to surround referee Giuseppe Collu and VAR Aleandro Di Paolo after the controversial penalty call towards the end of Milan’s 1-0 victory over Lazio on Saturday, as it has now been confirmed that there were, in fact, two errors made by the officials. 

Lazio appealed for a penalty in the final moments of second-half injury time at the end of their 1-0 loss against Milan on Saturday when Alessio Romagnoli’s shot appeared to strike Strahinja Pavlovic on the arm. 

Referee Collu did not whistle for a penalty, but was later called back by VAR to review the incident. 

Collu went over to the screen, took his time, before sticking with his original decision. He then explained to the San Siro crowd that Lazio’s Adam Marusic had committed a foul on Pavlovic in the build-up, and so awarded a free-kick to Milan. 

It had already been confirmed that VAR Di Paolo was in the wrong for calling referee Collu back to the monitor to review a penalty call, when the on-field decision had been correct. Corriere dello Sport describes Di Paolo’s intervention as ‘madness’. It is expected that he will not be involved for, at least, the next round of Serie A fixtures. 

However, as Corriere dello Sport writes, it was also incorrect for referee Collu to award Milan a free-kick, as there was no obvious foul by Marusic, and so, Lazio should have been awarded a corner in the final minute of stoppage time instead. 

Despite the fact that Collu was incorrect in his decision to award Milan a free-kick for a non-existent Marusic foul, he is not expected to face any significant form of punishment.