Gewässer » Livingston into its lineup after using him off the bench

ROME - Roma beat Empoli 2-1 after extra time to reach the Italian Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday thanks to a very contentious penalty.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. Custom Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . 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Mark Trumbo Jersey . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year – after they fell again in New Jersey on Sunday night, topped 3-2 by Cory Schneider and the Devils. MIAMI -- Turns out, the Miami Heat can beat the Brooklyn Nets. And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. LeBron James scored 22 points, Ray Allen added 19 and the Heat stayed perfect in this post-season by beating the Nets 107-86 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. It was the first win for Miami in five meetings with Brooklyn this season. "Its one," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But I liked the energy, the activity." Chris Bosh scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dwyane Wade finished with 14 points and Mario Chalmers had 12 for Miami, which recorded at least one regular-season win against every team except Brooklyn, losing four times by a total of 12 points. This one was a different story. A 24-9 run in the third quarter blew things open for the Heat, who hadnt played in eight days after sweeping Charlotte in the opening round. "It was great that we were able to come out the way we did after being off eight days," James said. "We got a lot of work in. We had eight days off of not playing a basketball game but Spo got us in the gym. (We) got each other in the gym. We made each other accountable throughout the layoff and it proved tonight." Deron Williams and Joe Johnson scored 17 points each for the Nets, who got only eight from Paul Pierce and no points from Kevin Garnett in 16 minutes. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night. "This is the defending champs," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "Its always going to be at a high level and weve got to find a way to match it." James finished 10 for 15 from the field and Allen -- who had never faced his former Boston "Big 3" compatriots Pierce and Garnett in the playoffs -- was 4 of 7 from 3-point land. "He was focused on the job at hand," James said. Miamis lead was 55-52 early in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Williams, and every indication was that the Heat and Nets -- who played three one-point games and a double-overtime affair in the regular season -- were heading down to the wire again. Not quite. The Heat took off on the 24-9 run over a 7-minute span, with Bosh scoring the first seven points of that burst to get Miami going. Allens 3-pointer pushed the lead to 14, James and Chris Andersen (who left in the fourth with a riight knee contusion) added two free throws apiece and just like that Miamis lead was up to 79-61.dddddddddddd "Its fun when you win the game and you can at least for a night do whatever it is you do, have some dinner, chill at home and exhale a little bit," Bosh said. "When you lose, you cant sleep, your stomach hurts and its not a very good situation." For Brooklyn, the trouble came at an unexpected time. The Nets had the best third-quarter scoring differential in the East after Jan. 1, but were outscored 33-23 in that pivotal quarter in Game 1. It was a hectic news day long before Heat-Nets, with Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant being announced as the leagues MVP, the firing of Golden State coach Mark Jackson and the NBA saying that Los Angeles Clippers president Andy Roeser would be taking an indefinite leave as part of the fallout related to the Donald Sterling scandal. James two-year reign as MVP lasted 198 games. "We have a new MVP, but when you talk about the best players in the world, hes 1A, 1B with Durant," Kidd said. Pregame lineup moves by both clubs lent more intrigue. Miami brought Shane Battier -- who played 2 minutes, total, in the first round against Charlotte -- back into the starting five, while Brooklyn reinserted Shaun Livingston into its lineup after using him off the bench late in the Toronto series. After never leading by more than seven points against Brooklyn in the regular season, the Heat led by 11 after a drive by James with 3:32 left in the first half. But the Nets closed on a 14-6 run, and Williams first beat-the-clock 3-pointer of the game sent Brooklyn into halftime down 46-43. Williams did it again in the third, but that one only got Brooklyn within 79-66. "It came down to defence tonight," Williams said. "Our defensive game plan was not executed at all." NOTES: The Heat held a pregame moment of silence for Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay, who died last week at the age of 89. ... David Beckham, who will be bringing an MLS team to Miami, sat next to the Heat bench. ... Livingston was on the court to warm up for the second half with about 10 minutes left in the intermission. Small problem: The rack of basketballs wasnt on the court yet. ... The Nets are 1-9 all-time against Miami in playoff games. ... Miami had not won consecutive Game 1s since the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2012 playoffs. ' ' '