Juventus beat Napoli 2-0 in Sunday's big Serie A clash between two of the biggest disappointments of the season so far.
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At the Allianz Stadium, superb goals from Alajbegovicand Boga, both in the second half, proved decisive after a largely uneventful opening period.
Everything, however, could have changed after just ten minutes, when Koopmeiners brought down Anguissa with a nasty challenge. Even as it happened, DAZN 's co-commentator suggested VAR might intervene, but no call came. Referee Sozza then allowed play to resume without even booking the Dutchman.
A wrong decision, judging by the comments in today's newspapers. Both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport felt the Dutchman's foul warranted a sending-off.
Gazzetta gives Sozza a rating of 4.5, adding that " as early as the eighth minute, he fails to book McKennie. In the 11th, he doesn't even book Koopmeiners: a challenge halfway up Anguissa's leg that constitutes serious foul play, clearly dangerous — it should have been a red ".
Corriere , meanwhile, rates the referee's performance a 5: " Sozza's performance was far from spotless — quite the opposite: the opening quarter of an hour was a nightmare (even though Halloween was over), and the Koopmeiners decision hangs over the match. A late challenge, with a straight leg and studs showing: true, it wasn't a 'lunge' but a 'scrape', which gives those arguing his innocence some room for manoeuvre, but going from a possible red to not even awarding a foul (and a yellow) means an error on the pitch and confusion in his head ".
For former referee Gianpaolo Calvarese , however, "a red would have been excessive. But if Sozza had shown one, I don't think VAR would have intervened".
According to Corriere, there could also have been another sending-off: " Speaking of risking a red: Lucumi takes a big risk when, already on a booking, he makes a clumsy challenge on Lucca. A second yellow would have been justified ".
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.
