NAPOLI DUNKS ITALIAN GIANTS ROMA HAS JUST BEEN PUBLISHED VIA UNPLUGGED SPORTS Napoli reached their fifth Coppa Italia final after beating Roma 3-0 (agg 5-3) in the second-leg of their semi-final at San Paolo. Jose Callejon headed in the opener in the 33rd minute as Napoli - who have won the tournament on four occasions, most recently in 2012 – took the lead on away goals. And strikes in the first six minutes of the second half from Gonzalo Higuain and Jorginho sealed the result, while Romas misery was condemned by the 79th minute dismissal of Kevin Strootman for two bookings. Dries Mertens scored as a substitute in the first leg and was promoted to Napolis starting line-up for the return fixture, with nine-time Coppa winners Roma making three changes from their win in the opener as captain Francesco Totti dropped to the bench. Mattia Destro almost gave Roma the lead in the third minute from Adem Ljajics cut-back, but Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina was equal to the task and made a great save from point-blank range. In a quiet first half, Gervinho had an effort blocked while Ljajic shot over, but just as Roma began to take control, Napoli claimed the lead. Callejon got in between Vasilis Torosidis and Mehdi Benatia and converted his free header with aplomb, nodding Christian Maggios excellent cross to the right of Romas ex-Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis. Ljajic shot at Reina from a tight angle after he combined well with Miralem Pjanic as Roma searched for a response but they were blown away just after the break. Callejon scuffed an effort at De Sanctis after linking excellently with Higuain before Napoli scored again from the resultant corner, which was flicked on at the near post. Higuain managed to get away from Torosidis to head in at the far post in the 48th minute and it was almost immediately followed by Jorginhos effort. Mertens provided the third, cutting in from the left before producing a superbly timed ball that allowed Jorginho to beat the offside trap and lift the ball into the net. Kevin Strootmans header was ruled out for offside and Destro nodded wide after Maicons cross as Roma battled for a lifeline. Strootmans night went from bad to worse in the 79th minute as he was sent off for fouling Callejon, which he followed up by kicking the ball at the player and sarcastically clapping the referee. His actions summed up Romas night, as Napoli were simply too good, setting up a meeting with Fiorentina in the final. ift.tt/1esNQmT
Posted on: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 22:49:36 +0000
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