'Stop with the snapshots!' – Gian Piero Gasperini furious as VAR frame distorts Donyell Malen red card
Gasperini furious over game-changing dismissal
Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini stood firm in defense of forward Donyell Malen following his 53rd-minute red card against Como at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia. The dismissal left the Giallorossi with ten men for nearly forty minutes, forcing a defensive shift in an otherwise open encounter.
Refusing to accept that Malen acted maliciously, Gasperini argued the Dutch forward suffered repeated fouls prior to the tackle on Kaiki.
"We were forced to defend ourselves after the red card. Malen was repeatedly fouled before the tackle," Gasperini blurted out.
Manager slams freeze-frame television replays
Gasperini doubled down when shown video replays of the challenge, criticizing officials for judging high-speed physical contact using static images. "To say Malen was playing violently is hard to believe; he was held back and had momentum," Gasperini explained.
"The jump was ugly, but there was no intent to inflict any damage. It was definitely an incident that ruined the match."
"There is no point in freezing the frame; football is not made up of frames. You can justify everything this way, but the concept matters. Stop with the frames because they distort reality."
Praise for resilience under difficult conditions
Despite his anger regarding the officiating, Gasperini took pride in how his team adapted to playing a man down against Cesc Fabregas' side. Roma held firm to secure Serie A's first 0-0 draw of the season.
"Over 30 minutes of 90 minutes, you play with ten men against a strong team like Como, and it is disappointing," Gasperini noted.
"I don't know how it would have ended with 11 men, but we were confident. A draw in these conditions is fine."
Focus turns to domestic momentum
Having survived intense late pressure from a six-man Como attack, Roma depart Lombardy with a valuable point to maintain their domestic rhythm. Gasperini remains confident in his squad's underlying growth despite dropping two points.
The Giallorossi will evaluate Malen's impending suspension ahead of their next Serie A fixture.
Gasperini expects his players to carry that same defensive resilience into upcoming matches.
