Referee experts agree Juventus were denied a clear penalty against Fiorentina: ‘No doubt’

Multiple referee experts agree that Juventus were denied a clear penalty during a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina for a Joao Mario handball: ‘No doubt,’ said DAZN pundit Luca Marelli.

Multiple Italian referee experts believe Juventus should have been awarded a penalty kick in the dying minutes of their 2-2 away draw at Fiorentina.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport all say that Joao Mario’s handball inside the box towards the end of the game should have been punished with a penalty kick for the visitors.

“The point of contact is below the elbow, more on the arm than in the armpit. The ball deflects off the player unexpectedly, but his arm was far from his body,” DAZN referee pundit Luca Marelli said.

“One possible interpretation is that the ball was unexpected, but Joao Mario had his arm positioned at a 90-degree angle. It is quite difficult to argue that this handball should not be penalised, even though there was an earlier touch with the boot of the Fiorentina player.

“Kolo Muani missed the header, and the ball came close to Joao Mario. There is no doubt the Fiorentina player touched the ball with his arm, and he should have been punished,” Marelli added.

“Calling the incident unexpected is only one possible explanation, but VAR should have brought the referee to the monitor to award a penalty.”

Fiorentina took the lead twice, first with Mateo Pellegrino and then with Alieu Njie, but the Old Lady came back from behind twice, scoring the first equaliser with Nick Woltemade and the second with Gleison Bremer.

The incident happened with the score already at 2-2.

The draw puts Juventus seventh in the Serie A table on 18 points from 11 matches, while Fiorentina sit 15th with nine.