Coppa Italia – Lazio come back to beat Juve

By: Francesco | March 3rd, 2009

Today Lazio and Juventus went head to head at the Stadio Olimpico in the Coppa Italia semi-final 1st leg. Marcello Lippi was on hand to witness the match, and both sides were for the most part first choice (Del Piero and Buffon were rested for Juve). Lazio started with: Muslera, Lichtsteiner, Siviglia, Cribari, Kolarov; Foggia, Ledesma, Matuzalem, Manfredini; Rocchi, Pandev, while Juventus went with: Manninger, Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Marchionni, Sissoko, Tiago, Nedved; Amauri, Iaquinta. Highlights after the jump.

The game started a little slow, but the Bianconeri emerged the stronger side in the first half. Lazio’s front trio was looking lively, but Juventus’ defense handled them well. Vincenzo Iaquinta seemed to have put Juve ahead in the 17th minute, but the goal was wrongly disallowed for offside. Replays showed that the World Cup winning striker timed his run well. Juve broke through in the 34th minute. Marco Marchionni trapped the ball with his thigh on the edge of the area and unleashed a volley with his left foot that might have been deflected as it went in pat Muslera. The first half finished 1-0 and Juve had a precious away goal. In the second half Lazio came out of the tunnel a different side. The Biancocelesti pushed forward as Juve looked slow and methodical. In the 64th minute, Lazio equalized. The ball scrambled in the box, but Goran Pandev, with his back to goal, turned around Claudio Marchisio and placed an angled drive past Manninger. It was 1-1, but Lazio wanted the win. They hit Juve again in the 77th minute. Pandev was the creator this time, threading through perfectly for Tommaso Rocchi who controlled and finished easily past Manninger. It was 2-1, and it is worthy to note that Rocchi is a Juventus youth product. Lazio controlled the result for the remainder of the match, and now take a 2-1 advantage into the 2nd leg. Juventus have to win in Torino now.

Lazio (4-4-2): Muslera, Lichtsteiner (34′ De Silvestri) Siviglia, Cribari, Kolarov; Foggia (40’st Brocchi), Ledesma, Matuzalem, Manfredini (8’st Mauri); Rocchi, Pandev. Subs: Carrizo, Rozenhal, Radu, S.Inzaghi. Man: Rossi

Juventus (4-4-2): Manninger, Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro; Marchionni, Sissoko (14’st Marchisio), Tiago (24’st Poulsen), Nedved; Amauri (34′ Trezeguet), Iaquinta. Subs: Chimenti, Ariaudo, Salihamidzic, Giovinco. Man: Ranieri

Referee: Tagliavento di Terni
Scorers: 33′ Marchionni, 19’st Pandev, 34’st Rocchi
Yellow Cards: Matuzalem, Iaquinta, Grygera, Sissoko, Chiellini, Marchisio, Rocchi, Mauri
Attendance: about 40,000