Match ends, Roma 1, Borussia Mönchengladbach 1.
RomaRoma1B MgladbachBorussia Mönchengladbach1
Chris Smalling conceded a controversial 93rd-minute penalty as Roma were held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Monchengladbach in the Europa League.
The Manchester United loanee was adjudged to have blocked a Nico Elvedi header with his hand by Scottish referee Willie Collum.
Sounds fair enough, right?
Well, it would have been if the ball hadn't smashed Smalling flush in the face.
The reaction to the decision was, as you'd expect, polar opposite from the two sides:
We've all had those moments watching football when we've seen a replay of an incident and thought, "Eh!?!"
Monchengladbach's Twitter admin certainly experienced it tonight...
Hats off to Monchengladbach though, at least they had the decency to apologise after Lars Stindl smashed home the penalty to snatch just their second point of the campaign against the group leaders...
How soon is too soon? The German side gave it just three minutes before cracking out this meme.
Shortly after the full-time whistle Smalling expressed his disappointment at the decision.
Roma later revealed on the club's official Twitter account that the match officials had admitted their mistake, and accepted their apology with good grace: "The #ASRoma post-match management spoke to match officials, who admitted they had made a mistake in awarding the penalty. We respect them and thank them for being honest. Now head to the next game #ForzaRoma."
Why didn't VAR intervene?
Wondering why the decision wasn't overturned by VAR?
The technology isn't available until the final in the Europa League.
We wonder what referee Collum would have given for the technology to be available tonight?
Earlier in the year, he came out in support of VAR saying "there's no referee in the world who wouldn't support VAR".
Line-ups
Roma
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 13López
- 37Spinazzola
- 6SmallingBooked at 90mins
- 20Fazio
- 11Kolarov
- 23Mancini
- 22ZanioloSubstituted forAntonucciat 77'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 27PastoreSubstituted forPerottiat 62'minutes
- 21VeretoutBooked at 50mins
- 99KluivertBooked at 72minsSubstituted forFlorenziat 84'minutes
- 9Dzeko
Substitutes
- 5Nunes Jesus
- 8Perotti
- 24Florenzi
- 48Antonucci
- 53Riccardi
- 61Calafiori
- 83Mirante
B Mgladbach
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Sommer
- 18LainerBooked at 81mins
- 24Jantschke
- 30Elvedi
- 25BensebainiBooked at 65mins
- 6KramerSubstituted forBénesat 76'minutes
- 8Zakaria
- 7HerrmannSubstituted forHofmannat 62'minutes
- 32Neuhaus
- 10Thuram
- 36EmboloSubstituted forStindlat 76'minutes
Substitutes
- 13Stindl
- 15Beyer
- 17Wendt
- 22Bénes
- 23Hofmann
- 31Grün
- 34Noß
- Referee:
- William Collum
- Attendance:
- 29,037
Match Stats
Home TeamRomaAway TeamB Mgladbach
- Possession
- Home44%
- Away56%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away15
- Shots on Target
- Home1
- Away3
- Corners
- Home6
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home20
- Away14
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Roma 1, Borussia Mönchengladbach 1.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Federico Fazio (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Post update
Foul by Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Post update
Gianluca Mancini (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!
Goal! Roma 1, Borussia Mönchengladbach 1. Lars Stindl (Borussia Mönchengladbach) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Booking
Chris Smalling (Roma) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Penalty conceded by Chris Smalling (Roma) with a hand ball in the penalty area.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by László Bénes.
Post update
Denis Zakaria (Borussia Mönchengladbach) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Edin Dzeko (Roma).
Booking
Mirko Antonucci (Roma) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Mirko Antonucci (Roma).
Post update
Attempt missed. Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Stefan Lainer with a cross.
Post update
Attempt missed. Alessandro Florenzi (Roma) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Edin Dzeko with a through ball.
Post update
Attempt missed. Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach) right footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.
Post update
Corner, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Conceded by Alessandro Florenzi.
Post update
Foul by Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach).
Post update
Mirko Antonucci (Roma) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
