Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman expressed his fury at the refereeing during his side’s 2-1 defeat against Atalanta on Sunday in their first home game of the season.
The experienced coach was adamant that a host of decisions should have gone the other way and was not worried about expressing his opinions after the match.
“I was happy with the performance, but you have to score in order to win the match,” the coach said to Sky Sport Italia.
“A penalty is when the referee blows his whistle, so they say, but unfortunately for us he did not blow his whistle enough.”
The 67 year-old was also enraged that Atalanta midfielder Marco D’Alessandro was not sent off with a second bookable offence.
“I lamented the missed expulsion of D’Alessandro, who was in fact then taken off by Colantuono,” said the coach. “The referee is there to let the game flow, not to lose you time.”
“I repeat: Not even a draw would have been enough today,” Zeman stated.
With his side’s next away fixture at the Olimpico against former club Roma, the Czech was asked about how he might feel.
“I live in Rome, it is my home. I have coached both Lazio and Roma. I had a good relationship with everyone at Roma, maybe others didn’t have one with me.”
Follow Alasdair Mackenzie on Twitter: @olimpiacalcio
