Juventus v Sassuolo: controversy over the penalty – Marelli says Idzes’s handball on Vlahovic was rightly penalised, here’s why

There has been further controversy over refereeing decisions, including in the Juventus v Sassuolo match on Saturday evening, which was part of the 30th round of fixtures and ended 1-1. The penalty awarded to Juventus for a handball in the closing stages of the match – which Locatelli then missed – has been hotly contested. Here is the analysis of the penalty by former referee Luca Marelli, now a refereeing pundit for DAZN.

These were Marelli’s comments on the VAR review in the 84th minute of the Juve v Sassuolo match.

"Idzes’ left arm was completely out of position on Locatelli’s header; it needed to be assessed whether there had been contact and whether it was punishable. They confirmed that there had been contact with the arm. To make it clear that there had been contact, they showed the front-on image."

"It had to be assessed whether there had been contact with the arm, which is why the review took so long. After confirming that Idzes had touched the ball with his arm, the contact is punishable both because the arm is above shoulder height and because it is completely out of position."

As mentioned, the incident did not lead to a change in the result, as Locatelli, stepping up to take the penalty, was hypnotised by Muric.