Juve players happy after Del Piero\'s goal Juventus secured a spot in the Coppa Italia semi-finals with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Roma at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday. First half goals from Emanuele Giaccherini and Alessandro Del Piero put the hosts on easy street, while a second-half red card for Erik Lamela and a late Simon Kjaer own goal eventually ensured that Antonio Conte\'s men would progress with the minimum of fuss.
The result now sets up a mouth-watering, two-legged semi-final clash between the Bianconeri and the winner of the AC Milan versus Lazio tie, which is set to be played this coming Thursday.
Despite controlling possession for the opening five minutes, Roma were taught a lesson in penetrative football when the hosts took the lead against the run of play in the sixth minute.
Central defender Andrea Barzagli dissected the Giallorossi defence with a 40-yard pass which bypassed Kjaer and released Giaccherini, who made no mistake, slotting across the haplessly exposed Maarten Stekelenburg from 10 yards to fire Juventus ahead.
The goal rocked Roma, and after a shaky period in which Del Piero went close to adding a second with a left-footed strike which finished narrowly wide of the upright, they eventually composed themselves and began to knock the ball about in the manner coach Luis Enrique demands.
However, the extent of their passing game seemed to entail passing back and forth in unthreatening areas, particularly along the back line, before eventually launching an aimless long ball forward - with Fabio Simplicio the main culprit - in the face of relentless Juve pressing.
The Old Lady, meanwhile, were looking threatening on the counterattack, and punished Roma for a second time with a classic route-one goal on the half hour.
Goalkeeper Marco Storari’s no-nonsense punt found Marco Borriello, who held off Kjaer’s half-hearted challenge and headed down to Del Piero.
The 37-year-old strode forward and attempted to prod the ball to his strike partner only for it to come straight back to him off Rodrigo Taddei. But he made no mistake second time around, curling a sublime shot across Stekelenburg and into the net via the crossbar to double his side’s advantage.
Fernando Gago forced a smart save from Storari in the 37th minute with a dipping strike from 35 yards. Then, seven minutes later, the Juve custodian was forced to scramble across his goal to try to stop a thunderous Miralem Pjanic free kick. But to his and Juventus’ relief, the effort crashed into the advertising boards behind the goal rather than the net.
Roma finished the first half in the ascendancy, but took until the 54th minute to test Storari again when Taddei forced him to punch clear with a wicked, swerving shot from distance.
But any hope of an unlikely comeback fell by the wayside in the 68th minute when Lamela was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Giorgio Chiellini in an off-the-ball incident.
Substitute Fabio Quagliarella should have wrapped things up 12 minutes from the end, but side-footed against the crossbar with the goal gaping.
However, he made amends for the miss in the final minute by fizzing over a teasing, low cross which Kjaer only succeeded in forcing past Stekelenburg and into his own net to round off a miserable evening for Roma.
The Bianconeri now turn their attention back to Serie A and title rivals Udinese, who they host on Saturday evening. The Giallorossi, meanwhile, will salve their wounds before welcoming Bologna to Rome the following day.