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ROME -- Roma beat Atalanta 3-0 in the fifth round of the Italian Cup on Tuesday, despite playing most of the second half with 10 men. The capital side will meet either Udinese or Fiorentina in the next round in January after a fifth consecutive victory in all competitions. Miralem Pjanic and Pablo Osvaldo put Roma 2-0 up before the break following two howlers from Atalanta goalkeeper Andrea Consigli. Mattia Destro extended Romas lead shortly after the interval. Osvaldo swiftly went from hero to villain as he was shown a straight red card 10 minutes into the second period for an elbow on Atalanta defender Carlos Matheu. "Im happy with the result," Roma coach Zdenek Zeman said. "At the beginning we tried to do what we know how to do. In the second half we gave them too much initiative, but what was important was to go through to the next round. "On every corner Osvaldo had a player on top of him and he wanted to get free. But you shouldnt act as if you were playing rugby, and to free yourself you have to be cunning. Its difficult to decide what to do." Roma and Atalanta fielded almost full-strength lineups, although Daniele De Rossi was handed a start for the first time in a month for the capital side. Destro had penalty appeal waved away in the 20th minute when he appeared to be bundled over by Cristiano Raimondi in the area. However, Roma was in front seconds later when Pjanics shot from the edge of the area -- which looked like an easy attempt for the Italy under-21 goalkeeper to punch clear -- stung Consiglis palms on the way in. Roma doubled its lead 10 minutes later when Consigli mistimed his exit to gather Destros through ball and Osvaldo tapped it in. It extended its lead still further six minutes into the second half after Pjanic threaded through a delightful ball for Destro to sidefoot home. Atalanta was gifted a chance to get back into the game when Osvaldo was rightly sent off for swinging out an elbow after appearing to be being held by Matheu on a corner. But Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg pulled off a stunning diving save to keep out Facundo Parras header from a meter out and Atalanta had a penalty appeal dismissed seconds later when Ivan Piris appeared to handle following Giuseppe De Lucas header. Cheap NFL Jerseys . The Winnipeg Goldeyes overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 4-2 Wednesday night before 2,178 fans at Newman Outdoor Field. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Last year this was the leagues best offence and knowing what we know now, the leagues most vicious defence. http://www.azulvirtual.org/hot.html . Leo Santa Cruz also defended his IBF bantamweight title, stopping Victor Zaleta in the ninth round of a brutal fight on a thoroughly entertaining card at Staples Center. Alfredo Angulo stopped Raul Casarez with a single left hook 56 seconds into the first round, making a dramatic return to the ring after a year away.This past Sunday, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced he was sending Scott Gomez home, with pay, for the entire season. Gomez is slated to make $5.5 million this season, while his contract carries a cap hit of $7.357 million. Gomez was being sent home so the Canadiens could preserve its option to exercise an amnesty buyout on his contract next season. Under the terms of the new CBA, teams are provided with a total of two amnesty buyouts ahead of the next two seasons. Once bought out, the players cap hit wont count against the salary cap. This is new. Under the old CBA, a buyout counted against a teams salary cap. So the amnesty buyout is designed to act as a relief valve for teams, particularly with the salary cap dropping from $70.2 million this season to $64.3 million next season. The catch, though, is that an injured player cant be bought out. So thats why the Canadiens sent Gomez home. They wanted to avoid a situation where he got injured, thereby precluding the amnesty buyout. He was effectively being bubble-wrapped in advance of next seasons amnesty buyout. And the Canadiens had good reason to be prudent. With $60.2 million already allocated to just 16 players next season (including Gomez), that left just $4.1 million to sign seven players to fill out its 23 man roster. Thats an average of $585,000 per player (the league minimum next season is $550,000). And that doesnt include P.K. Subban, who hasnt signed yet. So disposing of the Gomez $7.357 million cap hit before next season by way of an amnesty buyout would provide the club with much needed breathing room. For the Canadiens, there was also the option of trying to trade Gomez next season to a cap-hungry team. With his salary at $4.5 million in 2013-14, and a cap hit of $7.357 million, a team acquiring Gomez would have enjoyed a net gain of $2.86 million on his salary. So a team looking to get to the salary floor may have found him to be an attractive option. However, this option lacks the certainty of a buyout, so for the Canadiens, buying out Gomez makes more sense. However, the proposed move of sending Gomez home was not without risk. There was a possibility that the NHLPA and Gomezs agent, Ian Pulver, could have challenged the move by filing a grievance with an arbitrator. The NHLPA could have argued that a full season away from the game would adversely impact Gomezs market value next season as he wouldnt be able to showcase his talents. That would affect his ability to get a new deal next season, thereby undermining his earning potential. Sending home a perfectly healthy player with no off-ice issues with a view to simply preserve an amnesty buyout is not in keeping with the spirit of the contract. Gomez was being banished not because he failed to discharge his contractual obligations, but rather, because of a newly implemented CBA system issue. On the flip side, the Canadiens and NHL could have argued that an NHL contract only guarantees a player his pay – but not a roster spot. There is nothing in the CBA that expressly precludes a team from sending a player home with pay. Still, in light of the potential harm caused to Gomez, the NHLPA was carefully considering all of its options, including the possibility of heading to arbitration by way of a grievance. That would not have been a pleasant experience, particularly coming out of the lockout.ddddddddddddAs well, the outcome would have been uncertain. So that brings us to Tuesday January 15. The NHL and NHLPA announced a deal permitting each team to buyout one player before this Saturday. The buyout would count as one of the two amnesty buyouts. Players who are bought out before the season starts become unrestricted free agents, eligible to sign with any team. The players full cap hit for the 2012-13 season still counts against the teams cap. This was all captured in a letter from Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly to the NHLPA on Tuesday. Here are the details from that letter: (a) All teams are eligible to exercise a maximum of one buyout before the season starts, and that buyout would count against the allotted two amnesty buyouts per team. (b) In order to be eligible to be bought out now, the player must have a cap hit of at least $3 million. (c) Before a player can be bought out, he must be placed on waivers by Thursday January 17, 2013 (Both Gomez and Redden have been placed on waivers). (d) The player has to consent to being bought out by Friday, January 18, 2013. (e) A player being bought out gets paid his salary for this season (pro-rated to account for the compressed schedule). (f) The players cap hit still counts against the team buying out the player. So the Gomez contract for this season will count against the Canadiens salary cap. If the player is sent to the minors before the buyout, the team enjoys a $900,000 discount on the cap hit. Both Redden and Gomez were sent to the minors first, so their cap hits have been discounted to $5.6 million and $6.5 million, respectively. (g) All buyouts will count against the players share of revenue. (h) The NHL and NHLPA settlement has been agreed to on a without prejudice basis. That means that either side cant use it against the other side in any future legal proceedings or as a precedent of any kind. The legal effect of this deal is restricted to this subject matter – and thats it. Some have characterized this deal as a favor or goodwill gesture on the part of the teams to the players. However, that may not be the case. The Canadiens may not have been on firm legal footing when it sent Gomez home and that appears to be reflected in Tuesdays agreement. The benefits flow to the players. They get their entire salary for this season (as opposed to a two-thirds buyout amount generally reserved for these types of buyouts), while also getting a chance to sign on with a new team this season. Gomez and Redden can effectively each take home four paychecks over the next two seasons. Theres more. Both Gomez and Redden can play against their old teams this season. With their salaries and cap hits still on the books of their former teams, this isnt an ideal situation for the Canadiens or Rangers. So the new deal isnt perfect for the teams. However, given the legal uncertainty associated with sending a player home, the league might have thought it was a good idea to give a little so as to avoid the possibility of a grievance. And thats why this deal, from the perspective of the teams, looks less like a favour to the players and more like a concession. Eric Macramalla is TSNs Legal Analyst. He can be heard each week on TSN Radio 1050 and seen on SportsCentre and Thats Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @EricOnSportslaw. ' ' '