Coppa Italia: AC milan beat Genoa 3-1 while Fiorentina thrash Napoli 5-2

Genoa took an early lead through Leo Ostigard before Olivier Giroud equalized and then, goals from Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers ensured Milan’s passage into the last eight stage.

AC Milan beat Genoa 3-1 to reach Coppa Italia quarter-final; Credit: Twitter/@acmilan
By Sreejith C R | Jan 14, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

AC Milan came from behind to beat Genoa 3-1 in the Coppa italia round of 16 fixture at San Siro on Thursday. Genoa took an early lead through Leo Ostigard before Ilivier Giroud’s late header sent the game to extra time. And then, goals from Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers ensured Milan’s passage into the last eight stage where they will meet either Lazio or Udinese next month. Both sides were decimated by injuries, COVID and Africa Cup of Nations , as they missed a number of players. Elsewhere, Fiorentina thrashed Napoli 5-2 at Diego Armando Stadium to go through to the next round.

Rade Krunic’s header from Junior Messias’ corner kick hit the crossbar before Zinho Vanheusden tested Milan goalkeeper Maignan at the other end. On the resulting corner, Ostigard got on the end of Manolo Portanova’s delivery and headed home to give the lead to Genoa.

Things got worse for Milan as Tomori then limped off with a left knee injury, then Yeboah headed over the bar from a corner. After the break, Adrian Semper made a close-range save to deny Matteo Gabbia after Giroud knocked down a free-kick.

Milan finally got their equalizer in the 74th minute. Theo Hernandez delivered a fine cross from the left flank which was headed home by Giroud from inside the box. The momentum shifted and the Frenchman nodded wide from Leao’s cross.

In the 102nd minute, Leao’s attempted cross from the left side of the penalty area floated over Semper into the far top corner. In response, Ostigard blasted just over the bar while Paolo Ghigilone tested Maignan at the near post.

Milan sealed the win with their third of the night in the 112th minute. Hernandez was involved once again as he sprinted down the left before providing the cut back for Saelemaekers to finish it off from 12 yards.

Napoli 2-5 Fiorentina

Dusan Vlahovic put Fiorentina in front in the 41st minute before Napoli winger Dries Mertens equalized just three minutes later. Meanwhile Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski was sent off for a cynical block on Elif Elmas on the stroke of half-time.

But the visitors restored the lead in the 57th minute despite playing with 10-men. Italy left-back Cristiano Biraghi pounced on a rebound inside the box to make it 2-1. Six minutes from time, Napoli had a man sent off as Irving Lozano was shown a straight red card after a VAR review.

Things got worse for the hosts as Fabian Ruiz was given his marching orders for a second booking in stoppage time. But just seconds later, Andrea Petagna made it 2-2 to take the game to extra-time. 

Fiorentina made their man advantage count as goals from Lorenzo Venuti, Krzysztof Piatek and Youssef Maleh ensured Fiorentina will play Atalanta in the next round match.





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