Empoli director Roberto Gemmi complained that the decisive penalty for the Napoli victory had ‘no contact’ between the players.
The match at the Stadio Castellani was very even and the hosts had the better of the first half.
However, they were beaten 1-0 by a spot-kick converted by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, awarded when Tino Anjorin lightly trod on Matteo Politano’s foot.
The decision was made by the referee and not overturned by the VAR, but this infuriated Empoli players and staff.
Empoli rage at penalty decision
“I would like an explanation as to why the penalty was awarded, because there is no contact between Anjorin and Politano, you can see a gap between their feet,” director of sport Gemmi told DAZN.
“A referee can make a mistake, but this does inevitably weigh on the result. We probably would’ve lost anyway against a great side like Napoli, but it still would’ve been good to be given the chance.
“I did not come here to cause controversy, I quite simply do not understand why this was given as a penalty.”
It has already been a matter of debate in Serie A this season that the so-called ‘step on foot’ is always given as a penalty, or a yellow card when outside the box, even if unintentional.
The way refereeing designator Gianluca Rocchi explained it was “whoever gets there first is right,” even when two players get onto the ball almost simultaneously.
Manuela Nicolosi, who was the DAZN refereeing expert for the coverage of this match, insisted it was a penalty because “Anjorin catches Politano’s foot and not the ball. It is a clear step on foot situation.”