The penalty awarded to Manchester United against Roma continues to be a subject of debate. In the 58th minute, with the Giallorossi leading 2-0, Gil Manzano penalized the player for contact between Mancini and Cunha . Gianpaolo Calvarese also weighed in on the incident , expressing some doubts in the Gazzetta dello Sport : "The penalty awarded for contact between Mancini and Cunha, in my opinion, is trivial: Mancini was trying to avoid his opponent. But I want to focus on what happened next."
The former referee then focused on the replay of the shot, initially saved by Vasquez : "Vásquez saved Bruno Fernandes' shot by respecting the required position of the goalkeeper, with one foot on the line. Cristante, however, had one foot on the penalty line when he took the shot. And above all, it was he who, after the save, played the ball and cleared it away." This prompted the intervention of the VAR: "This is where the VAR protocol comes into play: an encroachment can be subject to intervention, because Cristante was directly involved in the action on the rebound. The VAR signals this and the penalty is retaken, without the referee needing to go to the monitor (overrule). The decision, therefore, is correct, in accordance with the rules."
Calvarese: Doubts about the penalty retake
While acknowledging the correctness of the decision, Calvarese then raised a question : "The question I ask myself is another: is it right for a legal save to be disallowed in a situation like this?" He added: "Vásquez and Fernandes took the penalty: one shot, the other saved, respecting the rule of having at least one foot on the goal line when taking the kick. Cristante certainly had an impact on the rebound—he even got to the ball first and played it—but that foot on the line had no impact on the confrontation between the taker and the goalkeeper."
Finally, the former referee mentioned a possible change to the rules : "I find Pierluigi Collina's proposal interesting: the 'one-shot' penalty." Calvarese then explained how it works: "If the shot goes in, it's a goal. If the goalkeeper saves it, or the ball hits the post or crossbar and comes back into play, the move ends and restarts with a goal kick."
