Juventus Denied a Penalty Against Fiorentina: Former Referee Coordinator Rocchi Has No Doubts

During the post-match analysis of Fiorentina vs. Juventus on DAZN, refereeing expert Luca Marelli examined the incident that occurred in the 79th minute, when the Bianconeri appealed for a penalty kick due to an alleged handball by Joao Mario in the Viola’s penalty area: “A cross from the left and a touch with Joao Mario’s left arm near his face after another touch by Dragusin: the possible explanation for not awarding the penalty is that the ball was unexpected, but his arm was too far out to be considered non-punishable.”

Former referee coordinator Gianluca Rocchi also weighed in on the same situation, expressing his point of view from the television studio: “Usually, if the ball arrives after a teammate’s touch, referees tend to let it go, but here it seems to me there was time to react and pull his arm away.”

The match at the Artemio Franchi Stadium, part of Matchday 11, ended in a 2-2 draw. Fiorentina took the lead after just 4 minutes thanks to Mateo Pellegrino, who slipped past Lucumì and Woltemade off a corner kick by Gonçalves. In the 32nd minute, Woltemade equalized on an assist from Kolo Muani. In the second half, the Viola regained the lead in the 54th minute through Njie, who capitalized on a clumsy play by Bremer. The Brazilian defender made up for it in the 67th minute with a header that beat De Gea for the final 2-2 score.

In the closing minutes, Dragusin scored what would have been the 3-2 goal, but Colombo disallowed it for a foul on Bremer. Vicario then preserved the result for Luciano Spalletti’s team, denying first Brescianini and then Mastantuono. After the international break, Juventus will host Venezia on November 22 at lunchtime, while Fiorentina will visit Monza on November 23 at 8:45 p.m.