Several AC Milan players were guilty of poor performances on Thursday night against AS Roma. However, a report has claimed that the referee, Szymon Marciniak, was also guilty of a poor performance.

Fingers can be pointed in several locations regarding the blame for last night’s poor performance, and given the magnitude of the fixture – and the magnitude of the outcome – several things will have to be looked into.

According to Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan), the referee was lenient from the start, and his decision regarding the red card for Zeki Celik, which was very doubtful in itself, was ‘replicated’ by Theo Hernandez. Although the decision for Theo’s red was overturned, the difference in the decisions shows a lack of authority and consistency, which murks the waters regarding the quality of officials.

There were no qualms about the Giallorossi’s first goal, but there maybe should have been a penalty for Milan. However, after restudying the decision, it was a good spot from the VAR department, showing an offside from Olivier Giroud before Mancini gave away the penalty.

Now, more so than ever, referees are under more speculation, and Thursday’s performance from Marciniak can suggest why this is the case, given the lack of consistency in the match he displayed.

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