Lorenzo Pellegrini takes off boot to time waste during Roma win

Time wasting at its very finest

Footballers try every way possible to ensure they can hold onto a vital three points. There's the classic case of taking the ball to the corner, faking an injury, but Roma's Lorenzo Pellegrini had a different idea. José Mourinho's side were able to beat Sampdoria 1-0 on Sunday following Henrikh Mkhitaryan's 27th minute strike but were under huge waves of pressure to hold onto the win.

Straight out of the Mourinho playbook

But with just seconds left on the clock, captain Pellegrini decided to take time wasting to a whole new level as he was preparing to be substituted. Along with Sergio Oliveira, Pellegrini was replaced by Eduardo Bove and Marash Kumbulla, but as he left the pitch, took his time. After handing Gianluca Mancini the armband, the Italian then began pulling down his sock and taking off his shin pad before then attempting to untie the laces on his boot. As expected, the home side were left outraged by his tactics and as he walked back to the bench, was brandished a yellow card by the referee. Pellegrini's booking means he will now miss Roma's next league game against Salernitana, after accumulating too many yellow cards, but will return for important fixtures against Napoli and Inter Milan. https://twitter.com/MichelF50539060/status/1510693977187569668

What did social media think?

Fans across social media were left amused by the left-back's tactics and insisted that working alongside Mourinho, who is known for his s*********y, that it may have been planned all along. "Pellegrini and Jose definitely planned that yellow card to miss Salernitana and be there for the big games after," one user said. https://twitter.com/RomaRants/status/1510676803765035012 Another said: "Pellegrini picking up that yellow card reminds me of Alonso and Ramos. Mourinho, is that you?" https://twitter.com/Dammy_Marley/status/1510677171727220739 A third user then replied with a small clip of Mourinho smiling while looking on from the sideline. As you can tell, he was most amused. https://twitter.com/85FdR/status/1510735550076096516 Related links:

• Ralf Rangnick says lack of physicality is biggest issue with Man United squad
• José Mourinho confronts journalist during press conference
• Graham Potter tells Brighton fans to stop shouting ‘shoot’ at his players