SS Lazio on Wednesday lifted the Coppa Italia for the seventh time after late goals by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Joaquin Correa guided them to a 2-0 final win over Atalanta BC on a night in Rome dogged by fan violence.
Milinkovic-Savic’s fine header set Lazio on their way with eight minutes left at the Stadio Olimpico, seconds after coming on as a substitute, before Correa sealed victory in the closing moments of the match.
The victory books Lazio a ticket to next season’s UEFA Europa League, much-needed for Simone Inzaghi’s side as they are eighth in Serie A, four points off the European berths with two games left to play.
Photo: AP
“We really wanted this cup,” Inzaghi said.
“It was a beautiful evening in our stadium with our fans,” he said. “It’s a great satisfaction, we deserve it, because we’ve come a long way.”
His side’s win was marred by clashes outside the stadium between Lazio’s hardcore “Ultras” and police before the game.
Fans threw projectiles at officers as a police car was burned near the Ponte Milvio bridge not far from the Stadio Olimpico.
Italian media reported that two police officers were injured, one in the ear by a projectile, and five fans were arrested.
Atalanta had eliminated last year’s champions Juventus in the quarter-finals and had been bidding to win their second Coppa Italia and their first major honor since they won the competition in 1963.
For the side from Bergamo, Italy — who are still in the running to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time — it is their third defeat in the final after missing out in 1987 and 1996.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side on Sunday head to Serie A champions Juve looking to keep hold of fourth place, with AC Milan and AS Roma both three points back.
“It’s a pity, but finals are like that,” Gasperini said. “The decisive moment of the match arrived in the second half and we lost on a corner-kick.”
“We now head to Sunday, because there is a place in the next Champions League to defend. We’ll overcome this disappointment, even if our run in the tournament was a great experience,” he added.
Atalanta had arrived in Rome on a 12-match unbeaten run since the end of February. They had beaten Lazio in both Serie A meetings this season.
However, they could not find a way past their solid opponents and failed to take their chances in a nervy game, with Papu Gomez denied by Thomas Strakosha in the Lazio goal within the first minute.
Atalanta’s top scorer, Duvan Zapata, and midfielder Marten de Roon also squandered two quick-fire efforts on 26 minutes, before Gomez hit the post with 14 minutes left.
Seconds later, Milinkovic-Savic made an almost immediate impact after coming on after a month out injured to replace Luis Alberto, who had just missed a chance for Lazio.
The Serb broke through, leaving Pierluigi Gollini powerless, and Correa finished off a counterattack minutes later to award Inzaghi his first major honor since winning the competition as a Lazio player in 2009.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but