Happy homecoming for Higuain
NAPLES, Italy — Gonzalo Higuain silenced Napoli’s goading fans with two goals on Wednesday as Juventus reached its third successive Italian Cup final.
Marek Hamsik, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Inisgne gave Napoli a 3-2 win in the return leg of their Italian Cup semifinal, but Juve progressed 5-4 on aggregate to set up a final showdown with Lazio on June 2.
“We didn’t manage to see out the job, even if we won 3-2 against a great team,” said Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri.
“There’s a bit of bitterness for those 20 seconds in (the first leg in) Turin, two instances in which we weren’t lucky and changed the situation.
“But the impression is that, bit by bit, we’re getting closer, and at least we have the satisfaction of having put them in difficulty. In a one-off match, we can beat them.”
Higuain’s every touch was greeted with whistles and jeers by his former fans, a repeat of the abuse he was subjected to in Sunday’s 1-1 Serie draw between the sides.
The Argentina forward is despised by the Napoli faithful following his move to bitter rival Juventus for an Italian-record $100 million after scoring 36 goals last season to break a 66-year-old Italian top-flight record.
“We know that Higuain is a great striker and we are happy for him,” Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli said.
“What’s important is that he scores. It’s normal that everyone talks about Juventus all the time, but we remain focused. We’re having a great season.”
Juventus, which leads Serie A by six points, is on course for a third straight league and cup double and is also through to the Champions League quarterfinals, where it faces Barcelona.
Higuain was largely anonymous in his team’s first-leg win on Sunday, but he fired them ahead on Wednesday with a precise 20-meter strike into the bottom-left corner in the 32nd minute.
Moments earlier, Venezuela international Tomas Rincon blasted over after failing to take advantage of a misplaced backpass by former Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches.
Napoli had its chances and it leveled in the 53rd minute. Insigne found Arkadiusz Milik in the area and a rebound fell to Hamsik, who curled home.
However, Higuain restored Juve’s lead five minutes later after he was left unmarked to smash Juan Cuadrado’s cross into the back of the net from the center of the area.
Milik was replaced by MertensonthehourandtheBelgium international scored after just 11 seconds following a horrible mistake by Juventus reserve goalkeeper Neto, who failed to control a throw-in.
The host led for the first time in the match in the 67th minute when Jose Callejon dribbled to the right side of the area and pulled back for Insigne to slot into the bottom-right corner.
Neto almost gifted Napoli another goal 10 minutes later as he botched an attempted clearance, which came off Napoli forward Leonardo Pavoletti before rolling wide.