Football
PA Sport 6y

Lazio boss Inzaghi accuses refs of 'serious mistake' in AC Milan opener

Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi was incredulous after a controversial handball goal from Patrick Cutrone was allowed to stand in the 2-1 defeat at AC Milan.

Italy Under-21 forward Cutrone opened the scoring at San Siro, though replays clearly showed he used his arm to convert Hakan Calhanoglu's 15th-minute free kick.

Video assistant referees are available in Serie A but the incident was not picked up by the officials as third-placed Lazio subsequently suffered their first loss in seven league games.

Inzaghi said he did not see the handball at the time but was frustrated with the decision to allow the goal.

"It's incredible. I hadn't noticed [initially],'' Inzaghi said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The first goal should have been cancelled.

"At the end of the game I also asked Cutrone and he told me that he had scored a goal with his back, but that's not right and he did not.

"It's a serious mistake, for the umpteenth time it went wrong.''

Cutrone's contentious opener was quickly cancelled out by Lazio midfielder Adam Marusic before Giacomo Bonaventura claimed the winner on the stroke of half-time.

The visitors, who hit the crossbar through Luis Alberto at 1-1, had numerous opportunities to level for a second time but they returned to Rome empty handed as they slipped 11 points behind leaders Napoli.

Inzaghi, whose team have the chance to exact revenge when they meet Milan in the Coppa Italia semifinal first leg on Wednesday, felt the display merited a point.

"In the second half we would have deserved the draw but we could not score,'' he told sslazio.it.

"We're sorry because we lost a very important game but we have to be good and rational to look forward and think about the game on Wednesday.

"Milan has so much quality, we deserved the draw but we lost, so no alibis and excuses, let's watch on Wednesday. ''

Victory for Milan was their third in succession to move them to seventh in the table.

Rossoneri head coach Gennaro Gattuso admitted his team had been fortunate with the opening goal.

"I thought it was head, I saw it was an irregular goal, but it seemed ridiculous to me to speak only of an incident,'' he said, according to gazzetta.it.

"We are happy and we know we have to improve''.

Reflecting on the overall match, Gattuso told his club's website: "This was a very tough test as we played a strong side.

"They pressured us so much in the second half, they are good in everything yet we won and the credit goes to the boys.

"Still in the 93rd minute, they were giving everything on the pitch. The only thing I did not like was dropping the intensity after Cutrone's goal.

"Now we'll play every three days and we can't afford to relax, we must continue this way.''

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