December 05, (THEWILL) — Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni struck late to send his side into the Coppa Italia quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over AC Milan at Stadio Olimpico on Thursday.
The result reversed the fortunes from five days earlier when Milan had defeated Lazio by an identical scoreline in Serie A.
The hosts started more purposefully but lacked precision in front of goal. Valentin Castellanos and Toma Basic both fired wide in the opening exchanges before Castellanos forced the first save from Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan midway through the first half.
The Rossoneri offered little going forward before the interval, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s backheeled effort failing to trouble Christos Mandas in the Lazio goal.
Milan improved after the break and created the better opportunities. Loftus-Cheek headed over the bar before Alexis Saelemaekers tested Mandas from close range. Rafael Leao wasted the visitors’ clearest opening with 19 minutes remaining, blazing a left-footed half-volley well over the crossbar when well placed.
That miss proved costly when Zaccagni found space to meet Nuno Tavares’ corner with a precise header that beat Maignan in the 80th minute.
The strike completed a hard-fought triumph for Maurizio Sarri’s team and avenged their recent league defeat to the same opponents.
Lazio will now face one of the remaining sides in the last eight of the competition.
Milan, exit the tournament and must refocus on domestic and European commitments after failing to convert their second-half dominance into goals.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
