Atalanta slam ‘two unjustifiable refereeing errors’ in Coppa Italia semi final with Lazio

Atalanta director Luca Percassi protested at ‘two unjustifiable refereeing errors’ in the disallowed goal after their Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to Lazio on penalties.

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La Dea were frustrated in Bergamo after twice fighting back for a 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico last month.

They saw two goals disallowed by VAR, one for a debatable Nikola Krstovic foul on Edoardo Motta, the other for Davide Zappacosta’s offside.

Mario Pasalic took two minutes to cancel out the Alessio Romagnoli opener, but with nothing to separate them after extra time either, it went to penalties.

Incredibly, Motta saved four spot-kicks in a row to give Lazio victory and send them into the Coppa Italia Final against Inter on May 13.

Atalanta protest refereeing decisions

However, coach Raffaele Palladino did not go to the media room after the final whistle, but rather director of sport Percassi to represent the club’s protest.

“When faced with a very good performance from the team, there is an evident error on the goal disallowed for Ederson,” Percassi told Sport Mediaset.

“There was more than one error from the referee, and that is a real pity, because a fully deserved qualification was thrown away by a key incident that inevitably had a big impact on the game.”

The disallowed goal saw first Mario Gila kick the ball onto his outstretched arm, then as the move continued, Krstovic toe-poked the ball out from under Motta’s glove after spilling it, allowing Ederson to tap in.

“It is not all down to that incident, but it is not the first time it has happened to us against Lazio. We still have an open wound losing the Final to them in 2019, and when faced with a very important game, we were penalised in incredible fashion.

“An error of this kind is not justifiable when there is so much at stake, and we have so many instruments at the disposal of the referees. It leaves a really bitter taste in the mouth to see this happen.”

Was the protest more about the Gila handball or the foul on the goalkeeper?

“I’d say both, people talk about kicking it onto your arm, but if he hadn’t got it with his knee, then it would’ve hit his arm anyway. As for Krstovic, the images are very clear that he anticipates the goalkeeper, and it is truly incomprehensible that a referee can make an error of this kind.

“I have not spoken to the referee, but it would be difficult for him to justify two such obvious errors in the same move,” concluded Percassi.

Moments later, there was a not dissimilar situation when Lazio had penalty appeals for Giorgio Scalvini handball, as again he kicked it onto his arm, but it was treated the same way.