Milan 1-0 Lazio: Referee praised and VAR punished after controversial penalty call

It has been decided that referee Giuseppe Collu was correct in his decision to not give a stoppage-time penalty to Lazio at the end of their 1-0 defeat against Milan on Saturday, but VAR Aleandro Di Paolo will be punished for his role in the incident. 

Should Lazio have had a penalty in stoppage time against Milan?

Milan climbed to the top of the table thanks to a loan goal from Rafael Leao against Lazio on Saturday evening, but the Biancocelesti were adamant they should have had a penalty in second-half stoppage time for an apparent Strahinja Pavlovic handball. 

The on-field decision was no penalty, but referee Collu was called to the screen by VAR Di Paolo. 

Meanwhile, Rossoneri head coach Massimiliano Allegri and Biancocelesti assistant Marco Ianni were both shown red cards for their arguments on the sidelines.

In the end, Collu decided against awarding the penalty, even after the VAR review, as he felt there was a foul by Lazio’s Adam Marusic before the ball struck Pavlovic on the arm. 

As per Corriere.it, Collu was correct to deny the Lazio penalty, but Di Paolo will be stopped for the next round of Serie A fixtures, as he could have misled the referee by unnecessarily sending him over to the screen for a review.