Lazio advance to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia following their tight 1-0 win over Udinese tonight.
Maurizio Sarri’s side struggled to break the deadlock this evening, despite having significantly more of the ball than their opponents. Eventually a long ball by Danilo Cataldi met a charging Ciro Immobile, who chipped the Udinese shot stopper to give the Biancocelesti the win.
Below are the two starting lineups in Lazio’s Coppa Italia win over Udinese:
- Lazio (4-3-3): Pepe Reina; Manuel Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Patric, Adam Marusic; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Vedat Muriqi, Mattia Zaccagni.
- Udinese (3-5-2): Marco Silvestri; Nehuen Perez, Rodrigo Becao, Martin Zeegelaar; Brandon Soppy, Lazar Samardzic, Mato Jajalo, Walace, Destiny Udogie; Ignacio Pussetto, Isaac Success.
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It was a fairly passive first half at the Stadio Olimpico, with Lazio having the better of the initial chances and Udinese having a few attempts of their own, in an otherwise forgettable 45 minutes.
Coach Maurizio Sarri made two changes at half time, with Lucas Leiva and Mattia Zaccagni making way for Danilo Cataldi and Raul Moro.
The second half started the same as the first finished, with both sides again sharing a few innocuous chances.
In the 71st minute Sarri switched out Muriqi, replacing him with talismanic striker Ciro Immobile.
Nine minutes later the 63-year-old Italian coach made another change, replacing Marusic with Elseid Hysaj.
Lazio had a late chance with Milinkovic-Savic and Moro, but neither could break the deadlock, forcing the match to extra time.
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8 minutes into the first half of extra time, Arslan’s free kick hit the post, giving the Biancocelesti a late scare.
In the 103rd minute Sarri made his fourth change of the match, switching out Felipe Anderson for Luka Romero.
Moments after the second half of extra time started, Immobile met a wonderful long ball from Cataldi, ran on and chipped Silvestri to make it 1-0.
In the 114th minute Sarri made his final substitution of the match, switching out Patric for Denis Vavro.
Udinese desperately searched for an equaliser, but their efforts ultimately came up fruitless. Lazio’s win means that they will face AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
