The appointment of 37-year-old Italian referee Livio Marinelli was not met with enthusiasm by Milan before the clash against Bologna at the San Siro. The Rossoneri believed the high-profile clash was being handed to an inexperienced referee, who has managed only 176 matches as an official since making his debut in 2002.
He has officiated just 21 matches in Serie A and 11 of those appearances, including yesterday’s stalemate between Milan and Bologna, have arrived this season in the top-flight.
Marinelli nonetheless put in a decent refereeing display, handing out just 2 yellow cards, in what was a tense atmosphere at Milan’s cathedral. However, substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who appeared for the final twenty minutes of the match, was not impressed with the Tivoli-born official.
After being entirely dominated by Milan in the second half – in a match where the Rossoneri had an astonishing 33 shots in total, but failed to convert any chance – the final minutes of the match saw Bologna wasting time in order to squeeze out a point.
And the 40-year-old veteran striker was less than amused by the Rossoblu shenanigans. The video cameras captured his reaction, as he turned to Marinelli and reportedly said ‘complimenti‘, which translates to a sarcastic ‘well done’ or ‘congratulations’, while Bologna shotstopper Lukasz Skorupski delayed restarting the game from a goal kick. (via Corriere dello Sport)
Ibra counted out loud the seconds passing away by making gestures towards the referee, who paid no heed to the Swede’s complaints. The incident took place in the second minute of the eight stoppage time minutes added.
Milan are now just one point above Napoli in the title race and could soon be joined by Inter, who are four points behind but have a game in hand.