Fiorentina to meet Atalanta in Coppa Italia semi-final

 

Fiorentina has booked a meeting against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.

They secured the last eight tickets after a dramatic 5-2 win away to Napoli in extra time. The seven-goal thriller had three red cards, and Krzysztof Piatek scored on his debut.

In the thriller, David Ospina saved a Dusan Vlahovic’s curler after 12 minutes. Also, Matteo Politano failed to punish Viola’s goalkeeper for his error, and Nikola Milenkovic’s header thumped the crossbar on a corner.

Grabowski also stopped Eljif Elmas’s shot at the near post, and Politano fired wide.

At the match played at the Diego Maradona’s Stadium, Fiorentina took the lead before half-time.

After getting down the left, Riccardo Saponara rolled across for Vlahovic. The Serb left Tuanzebe stranded with a shimmy to drill home with his left foot from eight yards.

Dragowski was not punished for a poor clearance. After intercepting the goalkeeper’s pass, Dries Mertens curled a remote-controlled right-foot finish into the far top corner that could not have been hit any sweeter.

Dragowski was eventually sent off to record an absolute nightmare comeback after three months out. After being caught way outside his penalty area on a Lorenzo Venuti header back, the goalie was stranded, making him body-check Eljif Elmas for a straight red card.

The 10-man Fiorentina restored their lead through Cristiano Biraghi. After his free-kick hit the wall, the ball came back to him, giving him a chance for a left-foot curler in off the inside of the far top post.

Fiorentina could not make it three after Nico Gonzalez ballooned the ball into the sky after when relatively unmarked from 12 yards.

On making his debut, Krzysztof Piatek got his name on the scoring sheet while Chucky Lozano fired blank after almost restoring parity for the Pertonopei.

The Mexican was, however, sent off later for an extremely high and reckless tackle on Gonzalez’s ankle. He was initially given a yellow card, but the referee switched to red after the VAR on-field review.

After both teams were reduced to 10 men, Fabian Ruiz also got the marching order after receiving a second yellow card for taking down Lucas Torreira.

Later, nine-man Napoli equalized through Petagna. Kevin Malcuit’s cross from the right could not be stopped by anyone, giving Petagna the chance to sweep in from seven yards, forcing extra time.

Fiorentina got into the lead again through Venuti. Maleh’s cross from the left found him unmarked at the back post for a cushioned volley off the inside of the right boot.

Piatek got his first Viola goal through Venuti’s assist. Venuti burst down the right and rolled across for Piatek to bundle the ball over the line from six yards.

Viola finally sealed the game in the final moments through Maleh.

 

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed