AN AJAX ballboy let his anger spill over as he launched a ball at time-wasting Roma defender Riccardo Calafiori’s chest.
The left-back was deliberately killing time with his side 2-1 up in the closing stages of the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final and it was him – not the ballboy – who was punished for his actions.
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Calafiori was originally handed a ball by the ballboy as it went out for a Roma throw with 93 minutes on the clock.
But not willing to get on with it so quickly, the left-back dropped the ball and proceeded to walk down the touchline after one that was further away.
And it was this that infuriated the ballboy who proceeded to hurl another ball at the Italian as he approached.
It made contact with his upper chest area and you could see the footballer’s instinct to go down and feign fatal injury was about to kick in.
But he came to his senses just before he hit the deck and decided to give the youngster a talking to instead.
Calafiori remonstrated angrily with the masked kid – who was still trying to thrust another ball into his hands so he would get on with the game.
Just as the altercation was coming to an end, the referee arrived and brandished the yellow card at the Roma star for his original time wasting.
Despite the ballboy’s best efforts, the Serie A side held on for another 30 seconds and won the game 2-1.
Davy Klaassen had opened the scoring for Ajax after 39 minutes with a well worked goal that he slotted home from 12 yards.
But Lorenzo Pellegrini levelled the scores just before the hour mark when his free-kick somehow slipped through Kjell Scherpen’s hands.
And Ibanez bagged Roma’s second away goal to seal the win with a stunning half volley with just three minutes of normal time left.
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