While most football fans were watching FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award ceremony on Monday night, AC Milan were taking on Spezia in Serie A.Milan had the opportunity to go top with victory at home to Spezia. But despite taking the lead just before half time when Rafael Leao put them 1-0 ahead, they succumbed to a shock 2-1 defeat.But that doesn’t tell the full story.
ENTER GIVEAWAYThat’s because there was an incredible refereeing error in injury-time that prevented Milan from going 2-1 ahead.As the home side pushed forward for a winner, Ante Rebic looked to unleash a shot from the edge of the box. As he lined up, he was caught by a defender from behind. The ball squirmed its way to Junior Messias, who finished brilliantly into the top corner.However, as the ball was travelling goalwards, referee Marco Serra blew his whistle for a foul to Milan.
The Milan players immediately surrounded the referee, who apologised for his mistake.
VIDEO: Ref makes huge error - AC Milan then lose the match
To make matters even worse, Spezia went on to win the match with an injury-time winner of their own.
Ouch.
While Serra deserves credit for owning up to his mistake both on the pitch, it’s now being reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport that he faces a ‘lengthy suspension’.
The report claims that the chiefs of the referee association (AIA) have apologised to Milan. They also posted out how Serra made several errors during the game, including a clear penalty for Milan in the first half, which was spotted only after a VAR check.
The usual referee suspension for poor performance is two matches but La Gazzetta dello Sport claim it could well be longer than that.
That’s no consolation for Milan who now find themselves two points behind Inter having played a game more.