Former Italian referee, Luca Marelli, has praised the action of Serie A referee, Danielle Orsato after the official handled an altercation with Victor Osimhen properly, Soccernet.ng reports.
Francesco Calzona’s men were looking to build on their good run of form, going five games unbeaten for the third time this season.
Napoli had the Lion’s share of possession and created the most chances but couldn’t find the back of the net as Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was keen on proving a point at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
In the 35th minute, a long ball from Alex Meret was contested by Victor Osimhen and Alessandro Buongiorno in the air, with the Nigerian striker elbowing the Italian defender in what looked like a nasty challenge.
The Torino players reacted to the referee, Orsato, urging him to send Osimhen off. The Napoli forward continued to plead his innocence while Buongiorno received treatment from the medical officials.
After consulting with the fourth official, Orsato gave Osimhen a yellow card and play continued, and the proper assessment of the situation by the referee drew praise from Luca Marelli.
“Osimhen’s elbow to the face of Buongiorno is imprudence and not violent conduct. Orsato was good at noticing the high elbow, thanks perhaps also to the fourth officer. Osimhen does not notice Buongiorno and trims an involuntary elbow, so it is an imprudent gesture and the yellow card is right,” the 52-year-old said on DAZN in quotes revealed by Tutto Napoli.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia broke the deadlock just a minute past the hour mark after a quick give-and-go with Mario Rui before Antonio Sanabria came off the bench to equalize for Torino with his first touch of the game.
Napoli have now moved up to 7th on the Serie A table and are just two points away from the European places as they continue to gather momentum after a poor start to the season.
