The dirty art of Italian defending is still very much alive
We all do it!
Southampton supporters unfortunate enough to not get a ticket to the sold out game must have been leaping out of their armchairs on multiple occasions that Andrea Ranocchia and Virgil van Dijk went head-to-head in the box off corners.
The Italian international was hell bent on grappling with the Dutchman all evening and if Mike Dean was the referee in charge, we probably would’ve seen four penalties!
In reality, Ranocchia just managed to stay the right side of the law on a few but it was a second-half bear hug on van Dijk that everybody couldn’t believe the referee missed.
It didn’t end up proving costly for Saints in the end but the dirty art of Italian defending is still very much alive.