After 120 minutes of football and a penalty shootout, Lazio advanced to the Coppa Italia final, defeating Atalanta on aggregate. Thanks to a 2-1 penalty shootout (1-1 in regulation), the Romans will face Inter, and the hero of the night was the fantastic Edoardo Motta, who saved four shots from the penalty spot.
Boginja set the pace from the very beginning and by the 32nd minute had as many as ten shots, while Lazio remained almost harmless. The best chance in that period was Nikola Zalevski, but his shot ended up straight in his hands Edward Mote.
The Romans mostly defended and tried to threaten with counterattacks, but without any concrete effect, so the nets were idle after the first 45 minutes and even then it was possible to sense
The second half brought a bit more excitement, but also tension. After one cross Charles De Quetelare, the ball hit awkwardly Maria Gila Fuentes in the hand, but the referee did not award a penalty. Then the Romans' goalkeeper tried to catch the ball, but it fell out of his hands, which the Montenegrin national team player took advantage of. Nikola Krstovic and reached her. In the continuation of the action Ederson hits the net, but the goal is disallowed after a VAR check.
The referee's decision was that the goalkeeper was considered in possession of the ball, and that the contact by Krstović constituted a foul. The decision caused great dissatisfaction among the Atalanta players, especially Krstović, who reacted violently to the disallowed goal.
Meanwhile, another Montenegrin, only in a Lazio jersey, Adam Marusic left the game and entered the field Manuel Lazari.
As the match drew to a close, the tension grew, and in the 84th minute Bergamo fell silent. Alessio Romagnoli who was the most resourceful in the box after the cross Mateo Zakanji.
However, the joy lasted only two minutes, as the home team equalized in the next attack when Marija Pašalić Krstović put the ball away, and the latter sent a well-placed shot behind Mota's back for new drama and an equalizer on the scoreboard.
Atalanta went for it all or nothing in the finish, Gianluca Scamacca hit the frame of the goal in the middle of injury time, but in the end the score remained unchanged and the game went into an extra half hour.
Extra time brought what the home fans had been hoping for. Their team went on another quest for a goal, and they succeeded in that endeavor, as the net shook. Giacomo Raspadori, but his goal was disallowed for an earlier offside. It was also the second goal disallowed by the home team in this match.
Two extra periods were not enough to decide who would face Inter, so the tipping point was reached with penalty shootout.
Neither team was famous for taking penalty kicks, but the visitors' goalkeeper – Mota – was.
Already in the first series, Boginja gained the advantage, Raspadori was precise, and then the shot Nuna Tavaresha defended Marko Karneseki. Motta did the same thing in the second series, taming Scamacca's shot, but Lazio didn't take advantage of it, now he sent the ball against the post. Danilo Cataldi.
Instead of giving the home team a two-goal advantage, Davide Zapakosta He continued his streak of misses, so the score was reset to the beginning because he scored on the other side immediately after him. Gustav Isaksen.
The scorer of the equalizing goal, Pašalić, complicated the situation, or rather his shot, was saved for the third time in a row by the fantastic Motta, whose teammate Kenneth Taylor then put his team in the lead.
De Ketelar shot for "survival", but the incredible Mota once again hit the side and brought the team Maurizio Sarri Italian Cup final.
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