AC Milan 0 Lazio 1 (agg 0-1): Correa winner earns Inzaghi´s men revenge

Lazio gained revenge by beating AC Milan 1-0 to clinch their place in the Coppa Italia final just 11 days after a fractious defeat against their Serie A rivals, who knocked them out of the cup last season.

Milan’s 1-0 victory at Stadio Olimpico put them in the driving seat to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League this season but Joaquin Correa’s second-half strike delivered a win that could hardly taste sweeter for Simone Inzaghi’s side.

The visitors edged a high-octane first half and then stepped up a gear after the interval, laying siege to Pepe Reina’s goal before Correa slid the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs.

The Rossoneri’s Franck Kessie and Tiemoue Bakayoko angered Lazio’s fans with their celebrations after winning in Rome, but the bragging rights swung the other way as Inzaghi’s men set up a final against Fiorentina or Atalanta.

Rossoneri bow out of the #TIMCup in the semi-final. Full focus on the league now / I rossoneri vengono eliminati in Semifinale. Testa al campionato#MilanLazio 0-1 pic.twitter.com/QFzyj2O4eU

— AC Milan (@acmilan) April 24, 2019

The two sides launched gung-ho into a full blooded contest and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic hobbled off in some pain having gone over awkwardly on his ankle, before team-mate Ciro Immobile turned smartly on the edge of the box and drilled a low shot into Reina’s midriff.

At the other end Lucas Leiva’s poor clearance allowed Calabria to rattle a dangerous bouncing effort towards goal that Thomas Strakosha had to dive to parry around the post.

Calabria then limped out of the game after pulling up with a muscle strain and both Bastos and Correa missed golden chances for Lazio towards the end of a frenetic first half.

Lucas sent a wonderful effort curling towards goal as Lazio pressed early in the second half but Reina made an equally spectacular save before Bastos headed wide from the ensuing corner.

The opener came from a blistering counter-attack, Immobile bursting over the half-way line and feeding Correa who bore down on goal before nutmegging Reina with a nonchalant finish.

Substitute Patrick Cutrone thought he had headed an equaliser 15 minutes from time but an offside flag was correctly raised against him.

Felipe Caicedo had a penalty appeal waved away at the other end after he was felled by Reina, but one goal proved to be enough for Lazio.