MY ACCOUNT
Holders Juventus reached the Coppa Italia final after a 2-0 victory over Fiorentina in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday.
The Bianconeri claimed a 1-0 win in the first leg last month, and they had to work hard to seal their place in next month’s final against a Fiorentina side that dominated possession and had almost twice as many shots.
Federico Bernardeschi got them on their way shortly after the half-hour mark, before Danilo added a second deep into stoppage time at the end of the game.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men will face Inter in the final on May 11 at the Stadio Olimpico after the Nerazzurri overcame Milan in their last-four tie.
The best chance of a cagey opening 20 minutes was Dusan Vlahovic’s shot from inside the penalty area, which was pawed away by Bartlomiej Dragowski.
The Juve striker should have scored shortly before the half-hour mark, yet Dragowski stood firm to block his attempted chip after he had been played clean through.
Dragowski was at fault for the opener in the 32nd minute, the goalkeeper completely misjudging Alvaro Morata’s cross to allow Bernardeschi to volley home from 15 yards after Cristiano Biraghi’s header had fallen kindly to him.
Fiorentina finished the first half strongly and they should have gone in at the break level, but Arthur Cabral’s powerful drive was straight at Mattia Perin.
Perin kept out Lucas Martinez Quarta’s deflected header early in the second half, while at the other end Denis Zakaria cracked an effort against the outside of the post.
Adrien Rabiot saw a goal ruled out by VAR for offside, although it mattered little in the end as Danilo swept home Juan Cuadrado’s cross late on to add gloss to the victory.
What does it mean? Fiorentina fail to punish Juve
Given they carved out 17 shots to Juve’s eight and enjoyed a whopping 68.3 per cent possession, Fiorentina will be bitterly disappointed they did not turn their dominance into goals.
As it is, Juve have now progressed from their last seven Coppa Italia semi-finals, with their last elimination coming in the 2012-13 season against Lazio.
Bernardeschi proves decisive
It was only Bernardeschi’s second goal of the season across all competitions, yet that is as many as he had in total across the previous two campaigns for Juve.
The forward was also denied a superb assist when Rabiot’s late effort from his fine cross was ruled out.
Shot-shy Morata
He did play two key passes before his substitution for Paulo Dybala in the 66th minute, yet Morata left the pitch having failed to take a single shot.
The Spain international will need to do more if he is to convince Allegri he should start up front alongside Vlahovic.
What’s next?
Juve travel to Sassuolo in Serie A on Monday, a day after Fiorentina visit Salernitana.
