Juve cry foul over penalty decision

Juventus were still indignant yesterday following their disappointing 0-0 draw at home to minnows Siena on Sunday, insisting they should have been awarded a penalty after Simone Vergassola handled the ball.

The incident occurred when a cross from Giorgio Chiellini hit Vergassola and the ball struck the Siena defender somewhere around the shoulder and upper arm area but even television replays failed to give a conclusive indication.

Nonetheless, Juve coach Antonio Conte was furious.

“It is counter-productive analysing individual incidents but the images are eloquent,” said Conte.

“I find it strange that in 21 matches we’ve only had one penalty for us and three against but then the refereeing was good,” he added with more than a little irony.

Juve general manager Giuseppe Marotta was far more outspoken in his condemnation of referee Sebastiano Peruzzo.

“Peruzzo didn’t see the incident, it’s an important decision and I hope in future we get top level referees,” he said.

“It was a sacrosanct penalty, legitimate, transparent, everyone realised that.

“Peruzzo was insufficient, traditionally the top teams are given international level refs but instead we were given a young one.”

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon did at least admit his team could not blame the result on that one decision.

Although dominating possession, Juve created only one decent chance in the whole game.

“Let’s make something clear, if we didn’t win the game it wasn’t because of the referee,” he said.

“However, it’s also clear that in certain situations, when maybe you don’t manage to express yourself in the best way, an incident can change the flow of the game.”