Rome: Lazio advanced to the Coppa Italia final at the expense of Juventus thanks to an injury-time winner from Sergio Floccari. Floccari headed in the goal from a corner deep into injury-time to give his side a 2-1 win Tuesday, and a 3-2 aggregate triumph, reports Xinhua.
The goal came mere moments after Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal looked to have sent the tie into extra-time after stepping inside his marker to rifle into the net from close range. Lazio midfielder Alvaro Gonzalez broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute with a fine diving header. Lazio head coach Vladimir Petkovic praised Lazio and goalkeeper Federico Marchetti for their dramatic win over Juventus.
"We are satisfied with the result and that was a crazy game at the end, but we had the right determination to take home the result," he said. Things could have been different if Marchetti had not saved from blank-point range when Juventus striker Sebastian Giovinco was clear on goal at the 95th minute. "Marchetti is having a fantastic season, not just in the individual saves, but the way he does his work and is a reference point in the locker room."
Juventus head coach Antonio Conte felt his side did enough against Lazio and rued that last-gasp miss. "We did more over the 180 minutes than Lazio, but whoever wins is always right, so we accept the result. That late miss from Marchisio weighed very heavily on us, as it would' ve been the goal to qualify us," he said. Lazio will meet either fierce rivals AS Roma or Inter Milan at the Stadio Olimpico in the final. Roma must wait until April 17 to try and consolidate their 2-1 first-leg lead.
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