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| Coppa: Lazio end Juve's season |
Wednesday 22 April, 2009 |
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Lazio are in the Coppa Italia Final after a 2-1 victory away to Juventus inspired by Mauro Zarate's stunner, 4-2 on aggregate.
The Biancocelesti had won the first leg 2-1 by fighting back from Marco Marchionni's opener and reiterated their dominance in Turin. Having fallen 10 points behind Inter, the pressure was on Juve to win the Coppa or end the season empty-handed, so it was no surprise when the Olimpico crowd jeered its squad, Coach Claudio Ranieri and club officials in the final stages.
Goran Pandev and Mobido Diakhite' were out injured, while the home side missed Giorgio Chiellini, Amauri, Hasan Salihamidzic, Momo Sissoko and Albin Ekdal. Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved, Nicola Legrottaglie and Christian Molinaro were rested in favour of David Trezeguet, Sebastian Giovinco, Lorenzo Ariaudo and Paolo De Ceglie.
Before kick-off Juve fans responded to accusations of racism against Mario Balotelli by unveiling a banner: 'Davids, Seedorf, Sissoko - real champions, real idols.'
Tommaso Rocchi had the first chance when he pounced on a Marchionni error only for his shot to be deflected wide off Zdenek Grygera. Trezeguet forced a low save out of Nando Muslera with his low curler from just outside the box.
It was Lazio who broke the deadlock with an absolute stunner from Zarate! The Argentine gathered 30 yards out and spotted Gigi Buffon off his line, immediately curling with the inside of his right foot into the top corner. It was a magnificent finish and meant Juve needed two goals just to force extra time.
In the second half Nedved and Mauro Camoranesi replaced Giovinco and Marchionni, as Juve came out fighting. This left them open to the counter and Buffon had to come screaming out of his area to clear at Rocchi's feet.
It was a gamble that did not pay off for the Bianconeri, as Kolarov doubled Lazio's lead with a fortunate goal. His shot from outside the area took a huge deflection off Grygera to loop over Buffon and in off the inside of the post despite the goalkeeper getting his fingertips to it.
The situation was now desperate for Juventus, who needed four goals to qualify and could no longer target extra time due to the away goals' rule. Their best chance of the game so far was a Trezeguet header, but Muslera performed a splendid save to push it off the line.
From the corner Francelino Matuzalem's goalline clearance denied De Ceglie, then Iaquinta nodded just wide before making way for Del Piero. Within three minutes of stepping on to the field, the captain had hit the back of the net. He chested down a cross from the right to turn his marker and smashed it under the bar from six yards.
Del Piero threaded through between four players for Trezeguet, but the Frenchman had already given up on it. They were unlucky when Nedved's header cracked against the base of the upright from Camoranesi's cross.
Camoranesi made the situation worse eight minutes from time when he was booked for a foul on Kolarov and immediately afterward received a second yellow for insulting the referee. It was his second consecutive dismissal after his red against Genoa.
Nedved's snapshot was palmed out by Muslera, but many of the Juventus ultras had already walked out in protest.
Lazio are in the Coppa Italia Final and will know on Thursday evening whether their opponents will be Inter or Sampdoria. The Final is a one-off game at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on May 13.
Juventus 1-2 Lazio (2-4 agg)
Scorers: Zarate 38 (L), Kolarov 52 (L), Del Piero 63 (J)
Sent off: Camoranesi 82 (J)
Juventus: Buffon; Grygera, Ariaudo, Mellberg, De Ceglie; Marchionni (Camoranesi 46), Marchisio, Tiago, Giovinco (Nedved 46); Trezeguet, Iaquinta (Del Piero 60)
Lazio: Muslera; Lichtsteiner, Siviglia, Rozehnal, Kolarov; Brocchi (De Silvestri 55), Ledesma, Matuzalem (Dabo 71), Foggia (Mauri 62); Zarate, Rocchi
Ref: Rizzoli
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