Napoli boss Antonio Conte fumed at the officiating after his side exited the Coppa Italia with a penalty shoot-out defeat to Como.

Antonio Vergara cancelled out Martin Baturina's spot-kick in a 1-1 draw at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Yet Cesc Fabregas' team forced their way through on penalties, coming out 7-6 victors to book their place in the semi-finals.

Napoli believed Como's Jacobo Ramon should have received a second booking when he pulled back Rasmus Hojlund in the 50th minute.

Indeed, Conte also felt Ramon's yellow card in the first half, which was also for a foul on Hojlund, could easily have merited a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity. 

"Let’s not always go and talk about referees, because there’s always going to be someone complaining," Conte told Sports Mediaset, in quotes carried by Football Italia.

"It’s certainly not a good season for referees and for VAR, I hope they can find something that will improve the situation.

"The fact is, everyone is complaining, coaches, players and fans, so the sport needs to step up and improve, because just as we improve our teams,they have to improve the referees and VAR officials.

"It’s not good for football, it’s not good for us."

Conte did, however, insist Napoli fans need to have perspective as the reigning Serie A champions continue to grapple with an injury crisis.

"I credit the lads, because it was certainly not easy to face a Como side with a full squad available, who had rested for 10 days," he added.

"We were coming off a game played against Genoa three days ago, which we ended with 10 men and lost another player to injury, as Scott McTominay is so important for us.

"I can only praise these players, because we are pushing beyond our current potential. We have very few resources available, which are simply nowhere near the ambitions that we should’ve had for this season.

"We’re having an incredibly positive season, in the circumstances."

Como are into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for just the second time in their history, having previously reached the last four in 1986.

Fabregas' team will face Inter for a place in the final.

"It is a historic achievement, a positive time, but we have another very important game coming up on Saturday. We must leave the euphoria to the end of the season," said the former Barcelona and Arsenal star.

"It will be tough to shake off the adrenaline, but we listened to music for 10 minutes in the locker room, now we will begin preparing for the weekend, as we want all three points."