Moggi gives his take on controversial Inter episode: “Had it happened with Juventus…” | OneFootball

Former Juventus sporting director Luciano Moggi offered his two cents on the debacle prompted by the controversial Inter goal against Fiorentina.

Four days removed from a 0-3 defeat in Florence, Simone Inzaghi’s men were determined to beat the Tuscans at home, not just to exact revenge, but also to avoid another painful blow in their Scudetto duel with Napoli.

However, Monday’s big contest was marred by controversy as Inter were awarded a corner kick even though the ball had crossed the byline by a significant margin when Alessandro Bastoni reached it, so the referee should have whistled a goal-kick for Fiorentina.

While this could have been a forgettable error on most occasions, Inter went on to score the opener from the corner kick thanks to Marin Pongracic whose touch was enough to beat his own goalkeeper David De Gea.

The Viola replied later in the first half through Rolando Mandragora’s spot-kick (which also sparked some debate), but Marko Arnautovic went on to win the all-important contest for Inter with a second-half header.

Nevertheless, the first goal still dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Napoli, in particular, were furious with the officiating, feeling the outcome of this fixture could return to hunt them in the long run.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Moggi offered his take on the whole situation. The 87-year-old noted that had this incident occurred in a Juventus match, his former club would have been slayed by the media, especially since the Bianconeri never properly defend themselves.

“It reminds me of a match between Juventus and Parma when there was no obvious corner kick. They even showed it on television, and the goal was disallowed,” the banned director said via Tuttosport.

“At San Siro, you didn’t need a telescope to see that the ball had gone out by 30 centimetres. Despite everything, the corner kick was given and the goal stood. If that assistant had made the same mistake in a Juventus match, everyone would have said that Juventus paid him.

“The underlying problem is that Juventus doesn’t defend themselves. Let’s be clear, these are things that can happen during the match. The assistant didn’t do it on purpose.”