Roma coach Rudi Garcia called for goal-line technology to be introduced to Italian football after a controversial goal helped his team to a 1-0 win at Udinese in Serie A on Tuesday.
A header from Davide Astori in the 17th minute hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down near the goal line. The goal-line official ruled that the ball did not entirely cross the line, but after protests from Roma the referee overruled him, sparking outrage from Udinese.
"If the referee decides on his own, then let's remove the goal-line official, because there's a structural error here," Udinese coach Andrea Stramaccioni said.
Roma coach Rudi Garcia is a proponent of introducing goal-line technology.
"With the technology there wouldn't have been any controversy," Garcia said. "It was a goal but if there had been confirmation it would have been better, especially for the referees."
"Having said that, the goal-line referee seemed well-placed to see the ball was in. At the end of the day, the referee has the final say."
Replays were inconclusive.
"The goal-line official told me it wasn't a goal but it's the referee who decides and I think he saw it correctly," Astori said.
Goal-line technology was used at last year's World Cup but hasn't yet been approved for Serie A. Full instant replay has not been approved yet by FIFA but Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio has offered to use it in Serie A next season as an experiment.
"In sports with inferior numbers to football they have the technology. In tennis, for example, there is Hawk-Eye, but we don't have it and we don't understand why. It's absurd," AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said. "I hope something is done for next season."
Later, Udinese protested for a penalty when Urby Emanuelson made contact with Panagiotis Kone inside the area in the 85th but the referee ruled to play on, resulting in more protests from the hosts and a management member on Udinese's bench being sent off.
After the match Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo criticised Roma for influencing match officials.
"Roma shouldn't need help from officials," Pozzo told Sky Sport Italia. "Unfortunately they have been pressuring the referees. For a month or so Roma have been going on and on about referees, so they are starting to reap the rewards of that.
"They are creating a so-called psychological sublimation that some referees have towards big clubs. These coaches add to the problem with their speculation and stirring. They'd do better to act more professionally, because we need football to be calm and without this hysteria.
"We are talking about good referees, but this permanent controversy and complaining about them is bound to affect those with even the strongest nerves. Let's therefore ask everyone to be more professional."
Garcia said his coaching staff had no influence on the decisions.
"The referee did well throughout the game and on the replays of the penalty incident you can see Urby gets the ball," he said. "The referees make judgments, not the coaches."
Roma moved provisionally level with leader Juventus, which was hosting Inter Milan later as the Italian league returned to full action after the winter break.
The win also put Roma nine points ahead of third-place Lazio ahead of Sunday's Rome derby. Udinese remained in the middle of the table, 17 points behind.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.