Coppa Italia: Inter Milan to face Juventus in the final

 

Juventus will battle Series A champions Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia Final.

The game has been scheduled to hold in Rome on May 11.

Max Allegri’s men had the last laugh in the semi-finals of the competition through goals from former Fiorentina player Federico Bernardeschi and Danilo.

The Bianconeri had gone into the tie on the back of a goal advantage in the first leg through a last-gasp Lorenzo Venuti’s own goal.

This, Viola, knows that with the away goals rule, they would go to extra time with a 1-0 victory in Turin or qualify to face Inter in the Final with any other win.

This made Vincenzo Italiano go for an all-attack side that included Jonathan Ikone in midfield.

Fiorentina almost scored in the opening minutes when Mattia Perin fumbled a corner. Also, Arthur Cabral, in an offside position, accidentally charged down Lucas Torreira’s finish.

Playing against his former club, Dusan Vlahovic, who pounced on an Igor error for the counter, hesitated, and Alvaro Morata was already offside by the time he released the pass.

Soon after, Morata was onside this time around, but Vlahovic stung Bartlomiej Dragowski’s gloves with an angled drive. Lucas Martinez-Quarta intercepted Morata on a Vlahovic back-heel flick.

Vlahovic beat the offside trap again and tried to dink it over Dragowski, who stood tall to block. The goalkeeper made a howler for the goal as he flapped aimlessly at Morata’s cross, allowing Federico Bernardeschi to chest and volley into the top corner from 14 yards.

Arthur Cabral’s shot was again denied by Perin’s after Mattia De Sciglio was caught napping.

The full-back got booked soon after, which ruled him out of the final, having accumulated five yellow cards.

In the second half, Perin made another great reactionary save following a deflected Martinez-Quarta header from a corner. On the follow-up, Denis Zakaria was denied only by the outside of the near post after combining with Vlahovic.

Adrien Rabiot thought he had scored the second half. But VAR said otherwise The Frenchman controlled a Bernardeschi cross, held off Jose Callejon, and swept in from eight yards.

Unperturbed by Fiorentina’s flurry of attacks, Juve finished the job in stoppage time. Juan Cuadrado confused Martinez-Quarta with a series of step-overs, pulled back from the by-line, and Danilo just had to sweep in from eight yards.

 

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed