The Nigerian international scored his second goal of the year to help the lowly Serie A outfit dump AS Roma out of the prestigious cup competition
Super Eagles striker Cyriel Dessers scored in Cremonese's stunning 2-1 win at AS Roma as the league strugglers outfought their more illustrious opponents to reach the semifinals of the Coppa Italia for the first time in over three decades.
The odds were hugely stacked against lowly-rated Cremonese when they made the trip to the Stadio Olimpico to trade tackles with Jose Mourinho's Roma on February 1.
Dessers' delight
But Dessers smartly won and converted a penalty just before the half-hour mark to hand the visitors a surprise lead. And shortly after the interval, Roma's defender Mehmet Zeki Celik put through his own goal to double Cremonese's lead.
Andrea Belotti reduced the deficit deep into stoppage time but it was not sufficient a consolation for Roma as the capital club exited the cup competition.
Angry and disappointed with the result, Mourinho was nevertheless measured and honest with his post-match reaction, choosing to applaud Cremonese and knock his players.
“Congratulations to Cremonese. They have won two tough games, against Napoli and Roma away from home,” Mourinho said, as per Ansa.
“We paid the price for a terrible first half, a very poor performance. Then, in the second, we made an individual mistake. The mistake in the first half fit into the context of the game considering we were playing so poorly.
“But there it is. Over the years I have learned not to cry after a defeat and to instead look forward to the next game.”
Foti's folly
While Mourinho did well to mask his bitterness and displeasure, his assistant, Salvatore Foti was, however, not as measured, with the Italian losing his cool at the shocking defeat.
During the encounter, Salvatore Foti was an animated figure on the touchline constantly aiming explosive rants toward the match officials and the opponent's bench. And with eleven minutes remaining in the game, the referee showed the 34-year-old coach a red card.
And the Italian Football Federation on Friday announced that it has banned Foti for a month for his offences.
In the statement, it was confirmed that Foti has been sanctioned for “repeatedly insulting the referee” Michael Fabbri, “threatening a director of the opposing team” after Cremonese scored its first-half opener and “repeated blasphemy” after being red-carded.
Foti will miss four Serie A matches following the ban, including Roma's trip to Cremonese at the end of the month.
