Last night, Juventus started their Serie A campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Sassuolo at the Allianz Stadium. The Bianconeri overcame a nervy start to break the deadlock through their new signing Angel Di Maria. Dusan Vlahovic then won and converted a spot kick to double the lead before completing his brace after the restart.

However, some will argue that Max Allegri’s men should have been awarded a penalty kick from the very first minute. Alex Sandro stormed into the opposition’s box, prompting a haggle with Mert Muldur.

However, match official Antonio Rapuano didn’t call a foul on the Turkish right-back, nor did VAR intervene, much to dismay of the crowds in attendance.

In his weekly column for Calciomercato, former referee Massimo Chiesa believes that the official could have called the challenge, although it didn’t count as a grave mistake from his part.

“There were no big problems in the match. Juventus could have been given an early penalty due to Muldur’s intervention on Alex Sandro, as the legs of the two players did cross.

“VAR didn’t intervene because it was not a clear and evident error from the referee.” explained Chiesa.

On the other hand, the retired official had no doubts regarding the legitimacy of the spot kick awarded for Vlahovic.