With the first legs of the Coppa Italia semi finals completed, controversy, goals and refereeing decisions come to the fore once again.

 

Juventus hold a two goal lead over Napoli after a 3-1 win which included two penalties from Paulo Dybala and a goal from former Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain. The current holders had to come from a goal down after Jose Callejon gave the visitors a lead after a miss hit shot from Lorenzo Insigne fell nicely for the Spaniard and his shot kissed the post as it beat Juventus goalkeeper Neto. Pepe Riena made a great double save first blocking Mario Mandzukic's low volley and then recovering well to save Stephan Lichtsteiner's rebound to give the side from Naples a half time lead.

 

Massimo Allegri reacted and made a change at the break replacing Stephan Lichsteiner with Juan Cuadrado, within two minutes the game was level. Kalidou Koulibaly made a challenge on Dybala and the former Palermo player went down, referee Paolo Valeri pointed to the spot and Dybala stepped up and duly converted. 

 

Juventus stepped up a gear and inevitably it was former Napoli favourite Higuain who gave Juventus the advantage. Substitute Cuadrado crossed from the left into the area and Reina had a rush of blood and came to gather the ball but completely missed it, the ball flicked off Koulibaly's head to the feet of the Argentine striker who coolly finished from a tight angle. 

 

Then in a one controversial minute Juventus secured a third goal and put one foot into the final; referee Paolo Valeri first turning down Raul Albiol's penalty appeals after he fell in the box before the hosts broke at speed and when Dybala fed Cuadrado in the box, Reina rushed to meet the Columbian but was adjudged to have brought the winger down. Dybala converted his second penalty in the same corner as his first and put Juventus in pole position to reach the final, and become the first team in Coppa history to win the competition for three consecutive seasons’.

 

In the other semi final Lazio beat their city rivals Roma for the first time in four years as goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile secured a 2-0 victory. 

 

A sparsely populated Stadio Olimpico witnessed Simone Inzaghi’s men finally break their Derby della Capitale jinx but it was Roma who started the strongest, as early as the second minute Edin Dzeko hit the crossbar as Lazio struggled to get a foothold in the game. 

 

After 20 minutes the I Biancocelesti finally forced a save from Roma goalkeeper Alisson after Milinkovic-Savic had his header saved, but nine minutes later he broke the deadlock after Felipe Anderson drove to the by-line and cut the ball back for the Serbian to put the designated home side ahead.

 

Italian international Ciro Immobile was a thorn in the side of the Roma defence and had a well taken goal ruled out for offside. Luciano Spalletti’s men lacked any real fluency in the game and Immobile put the balance of the tie firmly in Lazio’s favour when with 12 minutes left, substitute Kieta Balde beat Kostas Manolas and his cross found Immobile who scored from close range.

 

Spalletti’s men will have it all to do to turn the tie around and not make it a decade since their last trophy, but Simone Inzaghi must be confident of securing a place in the final which looks likely to be a rematch of the 2015 edition against Juventus.


Mark Neale