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Jose Mourinho hit out at VAR and what he called a “penalty suited to modern football” after his Roma side lost 1-0 to capital rivals Lazio in a heated Coppa Italia quarterfinal clash on Wednesday.
Mattia Zaccagni converted a penalty for Lazio for the only goal of the game in the 51st minute after Taty Castellanos was adjudged to have been fouled by Roma defender Dean Huijsen.
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“We lost to what I will call a penalty suited to modern football, one that the referee does not give when he is three meters away and VAR does,” Mourinho said afterward.
“This is how the referees are told to act — 20-30 years ago players would never go down the way they do here. A penalty ought to be seen as the maximum punishment. The referee was right there and decided not to give the penalty, but when there is someone in front of a screen that calls him for a minimal contact and the player puts on a show following that contact, there’s not much he can do.”
In a typically heated derby contest, three players were shown red cards in the closing minutes.
Lazio forward Pedro was sent off in the sixth minute of stoppage time time after receiving two yellow cards in two minutes. Roma forward Sardar Azmoun was given a straight red card for essentially slapping Lazio midfielder Nicolo Rovella on the back of the head, while teammate Gianluca Mancini got sent off for dissent after the final whistle.
The bad tempered affair extended to the supporters, with Roma midfielder Edoardo Bove struck by a glass bottle thrown from the crowd as he was being substituted in the second half.
Roma’s bad day was exacerbated by key forward Paulo Dybala being forced off at half-time with yet another problem in his long list of muscular injuries.
The World Cup winner from Argentina will be a doubt for Sunday’s Serie A match at AC Milan, where Mourinho will also be absent while serving a suspension after being sent off last weekend.
“He suffered the usual muscle injury,” Mourinho said. “He played a very physical match two days ago and was on the pitch for 80 minutes. This was a demanding game and he wanted to play.
“When Paulo goes down, everything becomes more difficult”
Lazio will face either Juventus or Frosinone in the two-legged semifinals in April.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.