Genoa 2-3 Napoli – De Rossi fumes with penalty calls: ‘It’s no longer football’

Daniele De Rossi blasted modern officiating after Genoa suffered a second consecutive 3-2 defeat decided by a stoppage-time penalty, this time against Napoli.

The Rossoblu had fought back bravely and matched the Partenopei for long spells, but their resistance was broken deep into added time, leaving the coach furious with the decision-making around spot-kicks.

“I don’t know what to say anymore,” De Rossi told DAZN. “I already talked last week about penalties. None of us know what a clear and obvious error is anymore. We no longer know if we have to step on a foot or just glance over it.

“The football that I played in no longer exists. I must tell my players to keep their arms behind their backs and not go into tackles. I don’t know what sport I am coaching.”

De Rossi: ‘We need courage and heart’

Genoa had come into the defeat to Lazio on a five-game unbeaten run, only to now lose back-to-back thrillers in identical fashion after late penalties against Lazio and Napoli.

“We need courage and heart, and we have that,” De Rossi continued. “Looking at the last two matches, losing in the 95th minute to penalties, it drives you crazy. I have to go into that dressing room and tell them they did well, because we didn’t deserve to lose again.

“Mistakes are part of football, but we stayed in the game. We were dealing with Højlund, one of the best strikers in the world when he has space to run. I’ve seen many teams take points off Napoli without playing as well as we did.

“We just have to gather ourselves and keep going.”