Lazio Slam 'Scandalous' Refereeing Despite Thrilling Comeback Win Over Fiorentina in Serie A Clash

Lazio spokesman Arturo Diaconale has expressed his fury about the standard of refereeing in his side's away victory over Fiorentina in Serie A on Wednesday, in which the Biancocelesti sensationally clawed back a 2-0 deficit to win 4-3.

Speaking to Radio Incontro Olympia and quoted by Football Italia, Diaconale said: "The well-deserved victory by Lazio in Florence cannot cancel out the scandal that we witnessed in the game at the Artemio Franchi.

"Even yesterday evening there were numerous refereeing incidents which were unfavourable to Lazio, between the referee's choices and the VAR."

Marco Rosi/GettyImages

Lazio played most of the match with ten men after Alessandro Murgia was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. This only balanced the numbers, as the Viola had also had their goalkeeper sent off for handling outside the area.

However, the referee also awarded a highly controversial penalty against the visitors, as Luiz Felipe was harshly deemed to have fouled Cristiano Biraghi in the box.

This may have fuelled Diaconale's conviction that the referee had favoured Fiorentina. In fact, he even claimed that Italian referees had generally shown bias against Lazio, saying: "It seems to confirm that there is some malice or prejudice against us on the part of the Italian whistlers who we come up against."

Lazio have frequently expressed their dissatisfaction with the standard of refereeing in their matches this season.

Nevertheless, despite any refereeing bias - whether real or imagined - against Lazio, Simone Inzaghi's side are in fourth place in Serie A and have won three of their last four league matches.

However, they were stunned in the Europa League quarter-final last week, as Austrian side FC Red Bull Salzburg overturned a two-goal first leg deficit to win 6-5 on aggregate.