Despite losing to Lazio that evening, Juventus advances to the Coppa Italia final
As a replacement, Arkadiusz Milik scored with his very first touch to advance Juventus to the Coppa Italia final. Valentin Castellanos’ double against Lazio had cost Juventus their 2-0 lead in the first leg.
However, Poland’s Milik scored only moments after coming off the bench, as Juventus lost 2-1 on the evening but won 3-2 overall. Next month, Juventus will play Fiorentina or Atalanta in the championship game.
The visitors launched their assault first, and Andrea Cambiaso’s low drive was inches wide after Filip Kostic’s blocked attempt ricocheted to his feet. However, after 12 minutes, Lazio seized the lead for the evening and cut the margin in half overall.
Castellanos rose over Alex Sandro at the far post and buried his header beyond Mattia Perin after Luis Alberto swung in a corner. Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, the first leg’s goal scorers, came dangerously close to combining to equalize.
Vlahovic attempted to prod home from close range after Chiesa set him up, but Christos Mandas stopped him. The booking of Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli for a foul on Nicolo Casale delivered him a personal blow since it means he will miss the championship game.
When Castellanos found himself one-on-one with Perin two minutes before halftime, he had the opportunity to equalize the score. However, the Juventus goalkeeper was fast to react and made a great stop to keep the advantage intact.
But three minutes into the second half, when Luis Alberto had put him in, the Argentinean made no mistakes. Using his muscle, Castellanos broke free from two opponents and tucked his finish beyond Perin.
Adam Marusic produced an incredible last-ditch stop to deny Vlahovic a goal just as the striker seemed poised to touch in Weston McKennie’s pull-back.
With seven minutes remaining, Timothy Weah’s cross-shot was pushed in at the far post by Milic to put the 14-time champions through, but Massimiliano Allegri’s replacements had an instant impact.
