In an interview hosted on TVPlay.it, Mario Balotelli commented on the ‘VAR’ incidents from the match Napoli-Inter while also discussing Hakan Calhanoglu’s transformation in the midfield:
NAPOLI VS INTER
“There was a foul by Lautaro on Lobotka; he grabbed him and pulled him down – according to SuperMario‘s point of view regarding the situation that led to Inter scoring the opening goal 1-0. For me, there are no doubts: the goal should have been disallowed. The problem is that the referee did not judge this intervention as a foul, and it’s absurd that VAR did not intervene.”
The refereeing team subsequently penalized Napoli even in the situation of contact in the box between Acerbi and Osimhen, according to Balotelli: “If they don’t give me a penalty like that, I would go crazy, I would go out of my mind. The touch is light, but Accerbi didn’t touch the ball. How can you not award a penalty like this? For me, it’s a clear penalty.”
ON HAKAN CALHANOGLU
Finally, the former Inter forward went on to talk about Hakan Calhanoglu, who opened the scoring of that game with a surgical shot:
“Calhanoglu’s goal is splendid, it deserves a solid 9 out of 10. I would have shot on the other side; he did something very difficult by crossing it and keeping the ball close to the ground. It’s one of the most challenging goals scored in this championship; he did something exceptional. I think he is amazing.
At the beginning, I didn’t think the former Milan player would become so important and decisive at Inter, honestly, I didn’t expect it. He is one of the top 5 playing in that role in Europe. For example, Casemiro is no longer himself, Hakan has to be among the best.”
