Controversy reigned in Florence as Fiorentina were on the end of a dramatic 4-3 defeat against Napoli as they kicked off the Rocco Commisso era at the club.
Two penalties, one for each side, were given and highly contentious, before another in the final moments which prompted Vincenzo Montella to admitted he has no idea how he rules are supposed to work, and that he had no idea how referee Davide Massa made the decisions he did.
Madness in Florence and @DovSchiavone looks like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards pic.twitter.com/1oZ1zfng8E
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) August 24, 2019
Optimism and enthusiasm
A lot can change over a summer, it wasn’t so long ago that Fiorentina clung onto their Serie A status by the skin of their teeth, the fans’ distain towards the Della Valle brothers was palpable at every match.
Fast forward three months, and Italian-American billionaire Commisso has breathed new life into the club, bringing an enthusiasm rarely seen in the stands of the Stadio Franchi in recent times.
Facing a Napoli, only second in Italy to Juventus, seemed like it was going to be a tough task, but Fiorentina rose to the challenge and were the better team for three quarters of the match.
Napoli looked nervous, and went behind, getting even the simplest of passes wrong as the Franchi roared their team on. Vincenzo Montella his an idea, and he has plenty of young malleable minds to mould. The average age of Fiorentina’s starting XI was 23 years and 188 days, the youngest in Serie A since 1994 (when data started being collected).
Let’s talk about VAR
Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be, let’s talk about VAR, or more specifically referee Davide Massa. He had a nightmare, feeling the ire of the Franchi crowd throughout. But it’s the penalty incidents which are of most interest.
The first, Piotr Zielinski’s handball, was a correct decision going by the newly implemented Laws of the Game.
“A free kick or penalty will be awarded if the ball touches a player’s hand/arm which has made their silhouette unnaturally bigger.”
VAR looking at Zielinski handball pic.twitter.com/uGaYqCSwq4
— Para (@Paracelsus) August 24, 2019
And by the letter of the law, that’s what happened. While it is a natural movement and positioning the body like this has always been commonplace in football, it doesn’t matter anymore. The new rule is there and as silly as it might be, it was a correct decision.
Then came the Mertens’ incident. The referee didn’t check the monitor and was apparently convinced there was contact, thus giving the foul against Gaetano Castrovilli. The defender was flat out on the pitch and in the process of getting to his feet. Why Massa didn’t look at it again will remain a mystery until the end of time.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s Mertens winning a penalty pic.twitter.com/WTq5u9Tvki https://t.co/HGzHO0mpvz
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) August 24, 2019
Finally, right at the death, with Napoli 4-3 up, Franck Ribery was dragged to the floor by Hysaj, literally hauled down. It was on the edge of the area and looking at the reply, a definite penalty, or at very least a freekick. Massa was stood right in front of it and waved play on. You can guess the reaction in the stands.
2. Ribery was literally dragged down by Hysaj but again, the referee turned a blind eye. pic.twitter.com/RBwIMepsvO
— CALCIO SQUARE (@thecalciosquare) August 24, 2019
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com