After a surprise in the Grande Torino, Empoli eliminated Toro with a 2-1 win and advance to the Coppa Italia.
The challenge is among the surprises of the Italian league, with the Granata in first place and the Tuscans in the Champions League zone, for Roberto D’Aversa’s team, who snatched the pass to the last 16 with a goal from Haas in the 90th minute.
Paolo Vanoli mixes the starting and second line, leaving Zapata and Sanabria on the bench and focusing on the new Adams-Karamoh tandem. Cocu returns to the defence and plays with his left arm with Walukiewicz and Maripan, and in midfield the big names Ricci, Ilicic, Linetti, Tamez and Genetis play. D’Aversa even changed ten of the eleven compared to the trip to Cagliari, which only confirms Henderson. The former Granata Pellegri is the attacking reference supported by Ekong and Konate, and the former Juve player De Sciglio completes the defensive trio with Marianucci, Tosto and Segetti, born in 2005, who makes his debut in goal and proves decisive in the end. From the start, the Azzurri’s attacking midfielders can trouble the Granata’s defence, while on the other side Adams and Karamoh are unable to connect, also because Toro’s manoeuvres are slow. Vanoli shouted from the bench but he did not change much, and the only effort for the home side came in the 26th minute when Genetis missed the target from distance. And so Empoli went ahead: Haas slipped into the box and crossed to the far post, Ekong Valukiewicz anticipating and mocking Milinkovic-Savic.
Granata protest the contact between Seghetti and Adams which referee Ghersini did not consider a foul, and the team returns to the changing rooms with some boos from the Grande Torino crowd. Vanoli returns to the field with a decidedly more offensive side: Walkiewicz and Genetis come out, Sosa and Zapata come in, the Croatian playing the arm in the back three and the Colombian in the trident with Adams and Karamoh. Toro continues to fail, the dull coach Karamoh replaces the nineteen-year-old Benji, the Swede immediately sends the ball to Zapata to put it in the net but the Colombian misses the penalty on the move. Daversa also brings new strength and focuses on Solbakken, Grassi and Colombo, Granata increases the pressure and in the 74th minute they find the equalizer: Ricci cross and Adams comes in and it’s 1-1 Granata. Everything seems ready for the penalty shootout, but in the 90th minute Haas mocks Toro in the brawl. In injury time, Seghetti miraculously takes the lead over Maripan, sending Empoli through to the next round. It’s the first defeat for Vanoli, and D’Aversa continues his dream start and will face Fiorentina in the round of 16.
Reproduction © Copyright ANSA
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