New coach Gennaro Gattuso on Wednesday got back-to-back wins as AC Milan booked a quarter-final clash with city rivals Inter in the Coppa Italia after a comfortable 3-0 last-16 win over AC Chievo Verona.
Gattuso earned his first win as Milan boss in Serie A action against Bologna last time out and his side put in another solid display against league strugglers Verona.
Goals from Suso, Alessio Romagnoli and Patrick Cutrone set up a Dec. 27 date with Serie A leaders Inter, who needed a 5-4 win on penalties to squeeze past Serie C side Pordenone after their tie on Tuesday ended 0-0 after extra-time.
Giacomo Bonaventura continued his fine form after his double against Bologna, playing a role in Suso’s opener on 22 minutes, and setting up Romagnoli’s second on the half-hour mark, with Cutrone heading in after 56 minutes before Bonaventura was substituted to the applause of the Milan crowd.
“What has changed with Gattuso? He gives us grit and heart — next up, the derby,” Cutrone said after Milan’s first win in their past eight Coppa Italia meetings with Verona.
Earlier, a late Jordan Veretout penalty sent ACF Fiorentina through with a 3-2 win over UC Sampdoria to set up a quarter-final with either SS Lazio or AS Cittadella on Dec. 26.
In a fiery clash in Tuscany, in which three of the goals came from spot-kicks, Khouma Babacar opened the scoring for Fiorentina after two minutes, as the hosts came out firing after their Serie A defeat to Sampdoria in September.
However, Sampdoria got back level six minutes before the break when Edgar Barreto fired in off a corner, with Veretout converting the first of his two penalties on the night after 59 minutes after the video assistant referee (VAR) was used when Babacar was brought down in the box.
An Edgar Barreto header hit the crossbar as Sampdoria pushed forward with Gianluca Caprari also hitting the woodwork, before Gaston Ramirez broke through to pull the visitors level with a penalty after being brought down by Davide Astori.
Fiorentina won a late spot-kick, again thanks to VAR, after late substitute Nicola Murru handled the ball, with Veretout making no mistake to slot in.
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