Coppa: Roma knock Capello out Wednesday 1 February, 2006
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Juventus won at the Olimpico in an ill-tempered match that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent off, but Roma reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
The Giallorossi were brimming with confidence after their 3-2 first leg win at the Delle Alpi, having won their last eight official games on the trot, and both sides fielded practically full-strength line-ups.
Juventus had a strong start and Zlatan Ibrahimovic hesitated with only Gianluca Curci to beat, but there was controversy when Roma had a goal disallowed after 13 minutes. Francesco Totti nodded Rodrigo Taddei’s cross under the bar, but referee Paolo Dondarini claimed there had been a shirt tug in the move. The replays suggest this was a harsh decision.
Soon after, Christian Abbiati kept the scoreline level with a fantastic fingertip save on Totti’s right-foot strike.
The tension between these two teams has always been high and it exploded after just 19 minutes of play. First Pavel Nedved was booked for a shocking tackle from behind on Totti, then a scuffle broke out in reaction to it, seeing both Ibrahimovic and Olivier Dacourt sent off. The Swede seemed to start the trouble, as he kicked the ball straight at Totti when he was still on the ground and Dacourt pushed Ibrahimovic in retaliation.
Roma went close when Daniele De Rossi’s diving header on a Taddei centre skimmed the upright, while Totti just failed to get on the end of Cufre’s pass across the face of goal.
Jonathan Zebina’s Juventus career has been blighted by a series of injuries and he limped off just before the break with another muscular problem, making way for Gianluca Zambrotta.
The Bianconeri could’ve taken the lead going into half-time, but Curci flew to push a Marcelo Zalayeta header over the bar.
The deadlock was broken soon after the restart, as Simone Perrotta blocked an Adrian Mutu cross with his arm and the Romanian stepped up to convert the penalty. The scores were now level on aggregate, although the Giallorossi were still ahead on the away goals rule.
Taddei, Zambrotta and Totti had good scoring opportunities, but nine minutes from time Juve risked taking the commanding position in the tie when Patrick Vieira’s fierce strike from almost 30 metres thumped the base of the post. Another scuffle also broke out before the final whistle in this tense match.
But Roma held on to this scoreline and go through to the final four of the Coppa Italia for the second year running, eliminating Juventus on the away goals rule.