ROME - Roma beat Empoli 2-1 after extra time to reach the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday thanks to a very contentious penalty.
Tim Salmon Angels Jersey .Daniele De Rossi converted the spot kick five minutes from time, sending Empoli goalkeeper Davide Bassi the wrong way, after Piotr Zielinski was harshly adjudged to have brought down Leandro Paredes.You can see that he takes his legs away, but its difficult to tell whether it was before or after he got the ball, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. I think the referee was in a great position to judge.Empoli almost equalized right at the end, but Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski pulled off a great save to deny Francesco Tavano.Roma was jeered off the pitch by its own fans after a lacklustre performance against a team struggling at the wrong end of the Serie A table, 22 points behind the capital club.Im upset above all for my players, Empoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. What did I think about the penalty? What everyone in the stadium thought, but the club has asked me not to comment on anything, although the pictures speak for themselves.Garcia may say it could have been a penalty, but not according to his players. I spoke to two Roma players and they said it wasnt a penalty.Roma got off to the perfect start as it took the lead with less than five minutes on the clock after Douglas Maicons cross was flicked on to Juan Manuel Iturbe.Empoli levelled 10 minutes from the end of normal time when Simone Verdi beat the offside trap to race past Davide Astori and round Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski before firing into the far corner.Ashley Cole made his first appearance for Roma in nearly two months — after poor form had seen him dropped to the bench. But his return lasted barely 23 minutes before he was carted off following an accidental kick to his chin from Matias Vecino.Roma will next face either Fiorentina or Atalanta.
Jim Fregosi Jersey .com) - Jimmie Johnson won Sundays AAA Texas 500 while championship contenders Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski as well as their teams were involved in a post-race fight on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at Texas Motor Speedway.
Shohei Ohtani Jersey ARLINGTON, Va. -- Of all the subjects raised with George McPhee at his on-the-way-out news conference after being told hes done as the Washington Capitals general manager, the two most vital to understanding the teams future and recent past involved captain Alex Ovechkin and fired coach Adam Oates. And those were two topics McPhee did not want to address Monday, two days after the Capitals announced the 17-year GMs contract would not be renewed. "I dont really want to answer questions about individuals. Im going to duck those," McPhee replied when Ovechkins name was first brought up. Pressed to weigh in about the three-time NHL MVP, McPhee replied: "If youre asking me if we can win with him, I believed we could win with him." As to how Ovechkin could lead the league with 51 goals and be among the worst in the NHL with a minus-36 rating, McPhee said: "Of course I have opinions, but those issues are for the next guy." Later, McPhee was asked to describe his working relationship with Oates, who was fired Saturday with a season left on his three-year deal. "Again," McPhee said, "I dont want to talk about individuals." At another point in the half-hour meeting with the media, though, McPhee did say he "loved working with" Oates two immediate predecessors as Washingtons coach, Bruce Boudreau and Dale Hunter. The Capitals finished ninth in the Eastern Conference this season, missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first timme since 2007.
Taylor Cole Jersey. "For five years, we really had an opportunity to win a cup. We were legit," McPhee said. "And then I thought the last couple years, we could make the playoffs, but going deep might be hard, because I didnt think we were quite deep enough." During the six post-season berths in the span from 2008-13, though, Washington never made it past the second round. McPhee thinks hes leaving the team in good shape, ready to reach the Stanley Cup finals "sometime in the next three years." "Im not exaggerating when I try to explain that this organization is in great shape," McPhee said. "We dont have any bad contracts on the books. Lots of cap space to work with. A great (AHL) affiliation in Hershey. A whole group of young players coming into the organization." He said the Capitals simply need a "pretty easy fix." McPhee said his contract wont expire until July 1, so other teams would need to ask the Capitals for permission to speak to him about a job. "If theres another GMs job in the future and someone gives me an opportunity, Id love to do it again," he said. "And Id go to Iceland to do it. Doesnt matter where it is." McPhees mood was light and he made a handful of jokes. Perhaps its because he was not stunned that the Capitals would make changes. "I felt it was coming," McPhee said, "but in this job, youre 24 hours away from being fired almost any time." ' ' '