Referee Chiefs Confirm Christian Pulisic Goal Mistake After Official ‘Botched’ Game

Christian Pulisic’s goal in AC Milan’s 2-2 draw with Sassuolo was incorrectly ruled out, referee chiefs have confirmed.

Milan were leading 2-1 shortly before the hour mark when Pulisic looked to have scored their third goal. Strahinja Pavlovic’s header had been tipped out by Arijanet Muric before the American bundled home from close range.

However, referee Valerio Crezzini disallowed the effort for an apparent foul by Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the build-up.

VAR did not intervene and the decision stood, despite replays showing minimal contact between Loftus-Cheek and defender Fali Cande.

The visitors’ anger then boiled over after Armand Lauriente’s 77th-minute equaliser forced a share of the spoils.

On Monday, the AIA (Italian Referees’ Association) damningly confirmed that Pulisic’s goal should not have been chalked off, while former official Luca Marelli has outlined in detail why Crezzini was mistaken.

“It leaves a lot of doubt. The goal was disallowed for a push by Loftus-Cheek on Cande,” Marelli told DAZN. “The referee allows the play to be completed and then blows the whistle. It’s a field move, VAR can’t intervene.

“There was contact, Loftus-Cheek puts his hands on the Sassuolo player, but I don’t see any push. Considering that Crezzini hasn’t called much, 24 fouls, this is way below the threshold.

“He simply put his hands on his back: in my opinion, this goal shouldn’t have been disallowed. There was also no offside to report.”

Pulisic, who is demanding a Milan pay rise, has scored nine goals already this season in all competitions.

Referee ‘Botched’ Game After Christian Pulisic Blunder

Crezzini made unwanted headlines after his refereeing debut at the San Siro, with the Italian press unimpressed.

La Gazzetta dello Sport gave him a grim 4.5 rating, writing: “He made an early mistake by missing the yellow card for Saelemakers. He continued with a direction full of errors until Pulisic’s goal was unfairly disallowed.” 

Tuttosport declared the 32-year-old had endured a game to forget, pointing to Pulisic’s goal being unfairly ruled out and a failure to issue two bookings during the first half.

Corriere dello Sport also issued a 4.5 rating in a brutal verdict. The publication wrote: “If you insist too much on the youngsters, you risk ending up like Icarus.

“Crezzini completely botched the game. The warning was there right away, the missed yellow for [Alexis] Saelemaekers after a few minutes should have been a warning bell.

“Then, a disaster: how can Loftus-Cheek’s foul on Cande be a foul and Pavlovic’s on [Walid] Cheddira not be? Bad, but surely the Commission will have known how to reward him.”

The Italian media similarly branded referee Felix Zwayer “incompetent” after he awarded Liverpool a controversial, last-gasp penalty against Inter Milan, from which Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winning goal.