Roma broke the Coppa Italia rules during their 4-2 defeat to Spezia on Wednesday night, having made an illegal substitute during extra-time.
Roma Break Competition Rules With Extra Substitute
Roma Make Six Substitutes
Roma, who fell behind two goals behind in normal time to fellow Serie A outfit Spezia, broke the competition rules by making six substitutes instead of the allotted five.
Unaware that they weren’t allowed to make an additional substitute in extra-time, Roma manager Paulo Fonseca replaced winger Pedro with defender Roger Ibañez.
The offence, which took place in the fifth minute of extra-time, was a reaction to the two red cards in two minutes Roma received.
Roma Finish the Tie With Nine
Having been given a second yellow card for a late challenge, Gianluca Mancini received his marching orders.
From the immediate Spezia free-kick, goalkeeper Pau Lopez rushed out, missing the ball and clattering the opposition’s attacker, reducing the hosts to nine.
The nine men succumbed to the Spezia pressure thirteen minutes from time – ex-Roma academy player Daniele Verde heading the side from Northern Italy into the lead.
Riccardo Saponara sealed the match in the 118th minute, lobbing substitute goalkeeper Daniel Fuzato from outside the Roma box.
Breaking Rules Meant Defeat Either Way for Roma
Having broke the Coppa Italia competition rules Roma would have lost the match regardless of the result after 90 minutes.
Spezia will travel to Naples on January 26 to face Napoli in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.
Fourth-placed Roma welcome Aquilotti again on Saturday in Serie A before another home game against Hellas Verona.
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