The goal that decided Fiorentina-Cagliari yesterday was a topic of discussion, with Davide Nicola stating in the post-match that in his opinion it should have been disallowed due to an active offside position by Kouamé , who was in front of Sherri at the moment of Cataldi's shot. During the Open Var broadcast, Dazn played the full audio with which the two referees at the monitor - Marco Serra and Maurizio Mariani - confirmed what assistant Ciro Carbone had decided.
It's the 24th minute of Fiorentina-Cagliari: Cataldi, served by a backward touch from Beltrán, kicks with his right foot from the edge of the area and beats Sherri for what will be the final 1-0. Between the Viola midfielder and the Rossoblu goalkeeper is Kouamé, in an offside position, who moves slightly with the ball that goes past him laterally before ending up in the net . "For me it doesn't have an impact and doesn't even make any movement", the assessment made on the pitch at the time.
In the VAR room in Lissone, Serra and Mariani discuss the episode and settle it in about fifteen seconds, after checking that there were no previous irregularities during the action. " We see the shot, what the player does: he stays still and goes the other way, for me it's a regular goal ", the first analysis while the images scroll. "The ball goes the other way and the goalkeeper seems to see it", the confirmation of the other monitor operator seeing further replays from different angles. "He sees it go, it doesn't impact the save: the goal is regular", the communication made to the referee Piccinini to be able to restart the game.
Dino Tommasi, former Serie A referee (54 appearances between 2008 and 2015) now a member of the Can, then explained in the studio why the refereeing top brass made the assessment correct: « There are three elements to take into consideration », he noted. «Kouamé is in an offside geographical position, but he is distant from the goalkeeper. The closer he is, in the goal area or nearby, the more physically impactful he is: in this case he is distant. The second element to take into consideration is obviously the ball: it starts from far away, the goalkeeper's reaction time is greater. The third element, of fundamental importance, is the fact that he sees the ball start and is not obstructed in his vision. In this case, assistant Carbone was right to say that it is regular, because it does not impact the goalkeeper's vision. And the VAR Serra and Mariani were right to confirm the assessment on the pitch». A goal that according to Cagliari, as Nicola said, should have been disallowed.