Gasperini’s comments following Genoa v Roma

Here are the coach's words yellow-red.

What kind of match was it?

“We settled into the game very well. It was a particular kind of match: Genoa played very aggressively and relied a lot on long balls. We were just as determined and just as solid. We didn’t have many shots, and neither did they, apart from Malinovskyi’s effort near the end. It’s a shame about the penalty and the goal we conceded. In the closing stages, we weren’t lucky with the decisive incidents.” 

There were two refereeing incidents: the possible handball by Malinovskyi on Koné’s shot and the throw-in given the wrong way that led to Genoa’s second goal.

“You can see it very clearly, absolutely clearly. VAR didn’t intervene and decided it wasn’t a penalty. The throw-in is also very clear. Everything is quite obvious—what more can you say? You don’t cling to a throw-in, even if the move started from there. The penalty incident is different: everyone can interpret it as they wish, but the images are very clear.”

Maybe the VAR official didn’t have absolute certainty to judge the situation.

“If the VAR official doesn’t have certainty in a case like this, then he should find another job. Maybe he judged it as not being a penalty for other reasons, but you shouldn’t think along those lines. The reality is clear, it seems obvious to me. He didn’t consider it a penalty, that’s it. As they say in volleyball: block. This incident was significant; we were at 1–1.”

After the equalizer,  the team seemed more in control.

“Yes, also because the match had taken on a very competitive intensity, with that level of aggression and those double-markings. It was more suited to players like Cristante and El Aynaoui, who have more presence in aerial play; playing the ball on the ground was difficult. Then it went the way it did. It’s not a very lucky moment for us right now, but we shouldn’t dwell on that. The spirit of the lads was fantastic. Svilar made his first save after the 90th minute. But we’ll recover everything—we’ll go to Bologna, to Como. The spirit of these players is always great and we’ll play our matches.”