Lecce Penalty Claim & Roma’s Potential Family Affair

Following on from the end of the March international break, AS Roma’s Serie A campaign restarted with a pretty disappointing trip to Lecce, where gaffer Daniele De Rossi watched his side play out a scoreless draw.

There were two big stories to come out of the affair at the Stadio Via del Mare, the first was obviously whether or not our gaffer was right to call out the decision by the referee to not award a penalty against Lecce in the second half of the game when Nicola Zalewski was clearly fouled, when he met with the media following the full time whistle.

In minute 55 in Sunday’s clash, Zalewski had just got his shot off when the hosts’ keeper, Wladimiro Falcone, crashed into his team mate, Alexis Blin, who then basically floored Zalewski and the Best Betting Apps in India would probably have given incredibly odds on a spot kick not being awarded.

It seems that the referee decided to simply play the advantage given the shot had been taken unimpeded, but a foul is a foul, and whilst nobody is saying either Lecce player had done this intentionally, or even deserved a yellow card, it is quite clearly still a penalty, as it stopped the 22 year old Polish international from making any attempt at following up on his initial attempt.

A number of Italian newspapers agreed in their coverage of the game, with both Corriere dello Sport and Gazzetta dello Sport making a point that the Giallorossi should have received a spot kick. In fact, the former newspaper gave referee Matteo Marcenaro a rating of 4.5/10 by CorSport for his performance.

The other main story would have had Roma fans trying to remember the performance of their left back, Antonino Gallo, as it is now being claimed that we have a strong interest in him and are weighing up a move ahead of the summer transfer window opening.

The 23 year old Italian has proven to be a key player for Lecce in recent times, and in fairness he was one of their stand out players in Sunday’s clash. Reports are now claiming that he is looking to move on at the end of the season, and as well as us having an interest in him, he feels we would be a good next step for him – particularly the improvement the team have shown since De Rossi walked through the door.

There is an intriguing twist here though, and it concerns assistant gaffer Guillermo Giacomazzi – he and Gallo share more than just an established friendship. Gallo is married to the daughter of our Uruguayan coach, who is his father in law.

The reports understandably claim that no negotiations have taken place yet as we are at the business end of the season right now, but this may be one rumour to keep an eye on.