Both Cagliari and Juventus had complaints about the referee in their 2-2 draw, as Carlos Alcaraz needed two stitches for a Yerry Mina elbow, while the decisive free kick was controversial.
The Sardinians had surged into a 2-0 lead through penalties converted by Gianluca Gaetano and Yerry Mina, both of which seemed pretty difficult to deny – unless you were Ian Paul Joy on CBS Sports.
"That's not football! We're ruining the game!" @JOYPAULIAN is FIRED UP about the penalty decision awarded against Juventus 😡 pic.twitter.com/oA5RJeANTW
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 19, 2024
However, in the very opening minutes and with the result at 0-0, Mina jumped over Alcaraz and caught the Southampton-owned midfielder on the side of the head with an elbow.
This contact was inside the penalty area, but the referee and VAR considered it to be a simple collision and waved play on.
Alcaraz certainly felt the impact, as he was bleeding and required two stitches to the wound at half-time, when he was substituted.
Meanwhile, Cagliari were furious at the free kick that allowed Dusan Vlahovic to get Juve back into the game for 2-1.
Nahitan Nandez went into a sliding tackle on Federico Chiesa and assured he did not touch the Juventus player.
Footage suggests that if there was any contact, it was a graze at most and certainly not enough to make Chiesa fly over the way he did.
“It was never a foul. I assure you, I did not make contact,” Nandez told Sky Sport Italia.
“The trouble is that these free kicks are never awarded to us. There were far worse today, two or three clear fouls on Zito Luvumbo that were not given. We are fighting to stay in Serie A, incidents like this change the game. If the referee thinks this was a foul, I can confidently say it was not.”
L’incredibile masterclass di simulazione di Chiesa che porta alla punizione del gol di Vlahovic… e c’è ancora qualcuno che ha il coraggio di parlare di Barella!!! 🤡 #Chiesa #CagliariJuve #simulatore pic.twitter.com/zsCiSkkM6m
— VampetaRevenge (@francescolosur3) April 19, 2024