Juve thwart Inter fightback to reach final
MILAN: Juventus held off a remarkable Inter Milan comeback by winning their Italian Cup tie 5-3 on penalties on Wednesday after a 3-3 draw on aggregate to set up a final against AC Milan.
Inter, beaten 3-0 in the first leg of the semi-final in Turin, rallied brilliantly to win the return match by the same score with two goals from Marcelo Brozovic and one by Ivan Perisic.
Rodrigo Palacio then missed his spotkick in the shoot-out, the forward’s effort bouncing back off the bar before Leonardo Bonucci’s penalty sent Juve through.
A weakened Juve were lethargic and unadventurous and the visitors were punished for their complacency as Inter dominated the second leg.
“That was the worst performance we’ve had since I’ve been at Juventus,” Bonucci said “We got the approach wrong and made things easier for Inter.
“We made life difficult for ourselves. We were lucky to take it to penalties... we didn’t have the right approach to the game. Inter didn’t have anything to lose, and we made it easy for them.”
Inter manager Roberto Mancini was full of praise for his team.
“It was a wonderful game,” he told reporters. “I compliment the players for how they managed it. I am sad for them, they deserved to go to the final.”
In France, Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 at Saint-Etienne in the French Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday to remain on course to defend their domestic treble.
PSG lost 2-1 away to Lyon in Ligue 1 on Sunday night for their first domestic loss since March last year — a run of 46 games — but Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani settled nerves when he scored from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 12th-minute pass.
Brazilian defender Marquinhos pounced at the back post in the 35th and, after SaintEtienne midfielder Valentin Eysseric pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, Brazilian winger Lucas grabbed PSG’s third goal in injury time.
PSG were drawn away to Lorient in the semi-finals.
Lorient beat Gazelec Ajaccio 3-0 while second-division Sochaux defeated Nantes 3-2 after extra time and next meet Marseille or non-league Granville, who met yesterday.