Not only Mike Maignan, but also Strahinja Pavlovic will be suspended for the next match against Lecce, scheduled for Saturday, March 8, at 18:00 at the Via Del Mare. This is what emerges from the statement issued by the Sports Judge this afternoon. And while no one expected such a sanction for the French goalkeeper, since everything happened inside the tunnel of the locker rooms after the match against Lazio, for the Serbian center-back, the suspension was just a formality: the defender had been sent off in the middle of the second half against the Biancocelesti.
What is surprising, however, is the reason for Pavlovic's expulsion.
The two possible options were DOGSO – Deny an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity (i.e., clear goal-scoring opportunity) or serious foul play. The statement reads the following reason: "for committing a foul intervention on an opponent in possession of a clear goal-scoring opportunity." A justification that raises even more doubts about Manganiello's decision.
According to the regulations, four criteria must be met for an incident to fall under DOGSO: possession of the ball, distance from the goal, number of defenders, and direction of play. In Pavlovic’s case, at least two of these criteria were not met: the distance from the goal was still considerable, and above all, there was at least one, if not two, Milan defenders who could have intervened, as relayed via Milannews.it.
