‘Wanted to give Muntari goal…’

By Football Italia staff

Paolo Tagliavento reveals he wanted to give Sulley Muntari’s ‘ghost goal’ for Milan against Juventus but “I needed the assistant’s ok…”

In February 2012, the two sides were going for the Scudetto and met at San Siro for what was a crucial game in the title race. From a corner, Philippe Mexes headed toward goal, drawing a sensational save from Gianluigi Buffon.

Muntari was on hand to turn in the rebound, which the goalkeeper only got to after it had crossed the line, but the goal wasn’t given.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw, the Bianconeri won the Scudetto and haven’t relinquished their grip on it ever since.

“It seems like a century ago, because these days that situation would have been solved in a second,” Tagliavento told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I had a feeling that the ball had completely crossed the line, if you look at the images you can see I’ve already got my arm up to point to the centre circle.

“But I needed the assistant’s ok, he was in the best position while I was on the edge of the box. He was focused on offside and missed the goal, he told me Buffon had parried it on the line. It’s a shame.”

Tagliavento was also asked about the best game he’s ever refereed.

“There are many, but Scotland-England in the World Cup qualifiers is definitely in first place. I get chills thinking about it, even now.

“It was played in Glasgow in a packed stadium [Hampden Park]. Scotland hadn’t beaten England in a competitive game in I-don’t-know-how-long.

“They went behind, equalised in the 90th minute and then went ahead. The people went crazy, I have to confess I stopped to look at them for a couple of seconds.

“Then in the 92nd minute England made it 2-2, and from a total bear pit it became as silent as the grave.”

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