Conte takes aim at officials after cup defeat
Napoli suffered a surprise defeat without their Scottish talisman Scott McTominay after they crashed out of the Coppa Italia on penalties.
On a dramatic night at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, it was Como who progressed to the semi-finals of the Italian cup after overcoming Napoli on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
The game was not without its controversy, however. Napoli head coach Antonio Conte was left raging at referee Gianluca Manganiello after he didn’t show a second yellow card to Como defender Jacobo Ramon after he fouled striker Rasmus Hojlund on the edge of the penalty box.
Napoli were outdone by Como goalkeeper Jean Butez and his teammates in the Coppa Italia.placeholder image
Napoli were outdone by Como goalkeeper Jean Butez and his teammates in the Coppa Italia. | Getty Images
Ramon had already committed a foul in a dangerous area on the Manchester United loanee, who led the line for Napoli three days on from scoring twice in a dramatic 3-2 Serie A win away at Genoa. Conte believed that infringement could have warranted a red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and was further incensed when Ramon escaped punishment for a foul on 50 minutes. The score was 1-1 at the time and Ramon was swiftly subbed by Como boss Cesc Fabregas to avoid further sanction.
“Let’s not always go and talk about referees, because there’s always going to be someone complaining,” Conte said, before continuing: “It’s certainly not a good season for referees and for VAR, I hope they can find something that will improve the situation. The fact is, everyone is complaining, coaches, players and fans, so the sport needs to step up and improve, because just as we improve our teams, [Gianluca] Rocchi [head of Italian officials] has to improve his referees and VAR officials. It’s not good for football, it’s not good for us.”
Regardless of the debatable refereeing calls, an injury-hit Napoli side struggled to get the better of Como. Without McTominay for the first time since mid-October due to a hamstring tendon complaint, the hosts struggled to get a grip on the game and went behind Martin Baturina converted a penalty six minutes before the break.
Napoli regrouped and levelled a minute into the second half when Hojlund set up Antonio Vergara, but they were unable to kick on and the match had to be decided from the spot.
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Romelu Lukaku and Stanislas Lobotka failed to convert their efforts from 12 yards, with French goalkeeper Jean Butez the hero as Como prevailed 7-6 in the shootout. They progress to the semi-finals, where they will meet Internazionale.
Napoli hope to have McTominay back for this weekend’s Serie A clash with Roma, but his fellow Scot Billy Gilmour remains absent. The former Rangers academy graduate is recovering from groin surgery.
“I credit the players, because it was certainly not easy to face a Como side with a full squad available, who had rested for 10 days,” added Conte. “We were coming off a game played against Genoa three days ago, which we ended with 10 men and lost another player to injury, as Scott McTominay is so important for us.”