Inter Milan draw with Atalanta last night saw VAR sink to a new low. The technology has been an incredibly divisive subject in the Premier League this season and it seems controversy is far from limited to the English top-flight. With Inter leading 1-0, striker Lautaro Martinez – who’d opened the – had a moment of utter insanity in his own penalty area. The striker grabbed Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi from the foot as he was about to tap the ball from a few yards out. Inter finally cleared the ball, but the Atalanta boys were understandably incensed and replays supported their argument.
In the days of VAR, a penalty would be awarded for denying a goal-scoring chance that was clear and Martinez sent off without attempting to play with the ball? Absolutely not. Martinez and inter went unpunished and once more the use of technologies at the highest level has been devalued. If it can’t place such a glaring error in a game between two of Italy sides, but can apparently see if a gamers’ armpit is offside, then what on earth is your point? Thankfully, Atalanta did equalise in the 76th minute through Robin Gosens and Luis Muriel went on to miss a penalty two minutes before the time to win the game.
Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini fumed with the ineptness of their VAR, regardless of his team missing a penalty they had been awarded.”I don’t know why VAR didn’t call it. The game is finished now, but these items are ugly to see. This type of error shouldn’t be allowed at the age of VAR. It’s incomprehensible,” Gasperini said, per Football Italia.”I feel awful for those in the VAR booth, since this kind of mistake takes away something from a really valuable technology. I feel personally that it should be used only on situations which are apparent and this really was apparent.”VAR is comfortably the most inconsistent thing in football right now!
