Sassuolo-AC Milan refereeing analysis: two penalty appeals involving De Winter and Ramos. VAR checks on both goals. Laurienté risks a red card

FOURNEAU

PALERMO, ROSSI L.

Fourth official:     CHIFFI

VAR:     SANTORO

AVAR:     MERAVIGLIA

Bowie gets to the ball ahead of the Serbian, who goes in with his foot anyway and brings him down. Fourneau is close by and rightly shows the Serbian a yellow card.

Berardi whips in a free-kick. Bowie's illegal block sends Ramos to the ground on the edge of the area. The ball falls to Thorstvedt in the area and he beats Maignan, but Fourneau immediately blows for an attacking foul by the Neroverdi.

Fourneau awards a foul, prompting the Portuguese striker to protest vehemently. His frustration earns him a booking.

VAR reviewed Odenthal's goal to make it 1-1. Bowie appeared to be in an offside position in front of Maignan, though that had not been verified. The ball did not touch Bowie. He was close to Maignan, who appeared to see the ball throughout, and the officials ultimately allowed the goal.

Marelli commented: "We cannot be certain Bowie was offside. The truth, though, is that even if he was, Maignan could see the ball throughout as it passed well to Bowie's right. If there was an offside, it would have been passive."

Later, Marelli clarified: "We were able to check the sideline camera, and Bowie was onside in any case."

Modric plays Rabiot through, and the Frenchman drives a powerful left-footed shot past Muric, who is at fault. VAR checks Rabiot's starting position, but the goal stands. He was onside.

Marelli said: "Laurienté's challenge on Gila was ugly. In this case, they let play continue, and there was no booking because there was no speed of impact between the sole of the attacker's foot and Gila. Caleta Car's hold on Ramos, on the other hand, is a matter of on-field judgement."

Laurienté bursts forward and beats Gila with a touch on the volley, but Gila stops him. The French winger then brings down the Spanish defender with an extremely dangerous challenge. VAR stops play to check the incident but decides against intervening to send Laurienté off.

Goncalo Ramos goes down off the ball in the penalty area and appeals for a penalty. As the ball heads towards Moreira on the left side of the pitch, the black-and-green centre-back holds the Portuguese forward and brings him down in the middle of the area. The referee and assistants let play continue, taking a huge risk. VAR does not intervene in these cases because it is a head-related incident.

De Winter takes up a position in the penalty area as a corner rebounds out, then goes down after contact with Van der Brempt. Fourneau decides the contact between the former Como defender's leg and the AC Milan centre-back's isn't a foul. At the first stoppage, VAR delays the restart but considers the incident either fair or insufficient to warrant intervention. The check ends with no action taken.

Chukwueze loses the ball and Laurienté drives forward, dribbling past two players. De Winter pulls him back and brings him down to stop the counter-attack. A textbook yellow card.

Rabiot gives the ball away cheaply, forcing Estupinan to foul Berardi. The holding offence earns Estupinan the first yellow card of the match.

After Van der Brempt goads him, Moreira ignores the ball and body-checks the full-back in black and green. Van der Brempt falls to the ground and hits his head. Fourneau doesn't give a foul, despite the extreme risk.

Trying to contain Gila, Bakola steps on his heel with his studs. Fourneau gives the clear foul but again lets Bakola off without a booking. It warranted a yellow card.

Yunus Musah should have been booked. The AC Milan midfielder makes a late foul challenge on Bakola, stopping a potential Sassuolo counter-attack. Fourneau speaks to him instead, despite the clear yellow-card offence.

On the challenge, Marelli commented: "Even though it's early on, this challenge deserved a yellow card for its audacity."