Coppa Italia: Empoli send Juventus out of the tournament

Empoli have eliminated Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after defeating the Turin club on penalties.

The visitors had taken the lead in the game before Juventus restored parity, and the spot-kick became the decider on who would face Bologna in a two-legged semifinal.

Dusan Vlahovic and Kenan Yildiz failed to convert their spot kicks, while Empoli dispatched all their for to win the tie 5-3 on penalties and qualify for their first-ever semifinals.

Atalanta went into the tie on the back of a 5-0 hammering against Atalanta at their backyard last weekend.

Many had tipped Juventus to stroll over them, but the visitors took the lead through Youssef Maleh before Khephren Thuram restored parity in the 66th minute.

The other semifinal showdown is the Milan derby between Inter and AC.

Nico Gonzalez had the chance to open the scoring after 90 seconds but ballooned over after a Kolo Muani knockdown.

However, Empoli took a shock lead as they punished Nico Gonzalez, who gave the ball away. Youssef Maleh hit a scorcher into the far bottom corner with his weaker right foot from outside the area.

As Juve struggled to create any chances, Empoli got to make it two when Maleh went through the middle on Liam Henderson’s pass and laid it off for Ibrahim Konate, but the 18-year-old’s angled drive was too weak to trouble Mattia Perin.

Another opportunity presented itself for Empoli with the last kick of the half, as Konate sprung the offside trap on a long ball over the top and beat Perin, but the finish bounced off the inside of the upright and back out.

They continued from where they stopped in the first half, as Maleh, within 20 seconds, hit a powerful strike with his preferred left boot from a distance and was palmed around the upright by Perin.

Dusan Vlahovic’s free-kick bent over the wall and dipped into the far top corner, but Devis Vasquez saved it.

Juventus, who have many injuries, especially on their back line, were woken up by a sensational bit of skill from Khephren Thuram, who twisted Liam Henderson inside out at the by-line with a back-heel flick to send the ball behind the player. At the same time, he ran in front, then beat Vasquez from the tightest of angles.

The Bianconeri, the defending champions of the tournament, expectedly pushed for the winning goal, but Empoli held on until the last and settled for the spot kick to triumph over Thiago Motta’s men.

Juventus lost their first spot kick when Vlahovic stepped up and ballooned it over the crossbar. 

Successful conversions followed it until Vasquez got down to palm the Kenan Yildiz effort near the bottom corner.

Luca Marianucci kept his cool by converting Empoli and sending him to their first-ever Coppa Italia semifinal.