Two handed shove in the back before the challenge with the left foot, clearly denied the shooting opportunity.
Sending off Buffon is a different story. Hard to say he was/wasn't justified there without knowing what was said. There was definite contact made between Gigi and Oliver, however.
Stoppage time penalty, and almost anyone should get a free pass there. At least show yellow. Quite frankly, it show Oliver's intent to influence the match. I don't think there's any other reasonable take on that.
That should never be allowed.
Also: Benatia should have been sent off as well. He was already on a yellow, and that was a ball-challenging DOGSO which warrants a yellow card in the penalty area. By the book, they should have been down to 9.
... to the rule, depending on how Oliver interpreted the offense.
It was probably within the guidelines of being an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
But it was a challenge on the ball, which warrants a yellow within the PA (and it would have been a second yellow).
was there contact, sure, but it was incidental at best.
He got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. Ref made the moment about him.
First of all, consider the moment. It's the biggest moment of most of these players careers. Oliver does a cute little foot shuffle as he points to the spot - clearly not a stranger to the big stage.
Then players surround him. At the 8 second mark you can see Oliver begin to retreat. Which is what you would expect of an official that understands the heat of the moment. He's leaning to his right about to duck away. Then he stands straight up and puts his shoulder into Buffon's chest. Then he reaches into his back pocket.
Did Buffon overreact? Of course. Most players would. All I'm saying is that Oliver was looking to influence the moment. He could have easily deescalated the situation by flashing yellow there. He didn't. There's only one explanation for that sequence.
that got in his face.
IMO, it makes the game unwatchable at times and it needs to stop.
The continued accosting of referees should be stopped.
I think their standards have fallen and I'm largely disappointed in their work. But Michael Oliver had a great game yesterday.
Making that call at that moment is incredibly difficult. He got the penalty 100% right. Yes, Buffon's reaction is emotional and a huge moment for him and his career. Doesn't justify his reaction. He made physical contact with Oliver twice - you can debate on whether or not one of those times is intentional (Costa may have actually pushed him into Oliver), but it is irrelevant.
And the match report (as far as I know) isn't public yet, and that will have more information as to why he was sent off.
And I have no dog in this fight.
Where you see a "cute little foot shuffle," I see a ref stopping to point at the penalty spot. Where you see a ref "looking to influence the moment," I see a ref getting accosted after making a correct call.
I get that the foul call came at a crucial time. I give the ref credit for calling it, as it had the strong potential to influence the outcome. But it was unquestionably the correct call. And the ref got mobbed for making it, which can't happen either. I have no problem with the red card in that situation.
There's no reason to show red there. It's like replaying a holding call on a touchdown in the super bowl. You could make the call...if you want to.