A lackluster Roma needed extra time to beat Empoli 2-1 in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia on Tuesday evening at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juan Iturbe’s early first half strike was cancelled by Simone Verdi late in the second half to send the game in to extra time. A Daniele De Rossi penalty in the second half of extra time secured progression for Roma.
The game started at a frantic pace, Empoli’s failure to deal with a Douglas Maicon cross presented the ball to Iturbe in the box.
The Argentine forward dribbled the ball beyond a defender and rolled a finish in to the far corner to give the Giallorossi the lead in the first five minutes.
Immediately after conceding, the Azzurri had a few chances to score the equaliser but both Riccardo Saponara and Francesco Tavano failed to find the target.
The remaining of the first half was dominated by the home team but they failed to add their advantage.
Roma started the second half brighter and an error by Matteo Bianchetti gave Destro the perfect chance to double their lead, but the striker inexplicably shot over the goal.
Completely against the run of play, Empoli almost got an equaliser. A ball into Roma’s box was cleared till Piotr Zelinski, the substitute volleyed the ball inches off target.
The Giallorossi’s failure to finish off their chances came back to haunt them as a simple ball forward caught Davide Astori out and allowed Simone Verdi to round Lukasz Skorupski to equalise.
A great double save off Iturbe right at the death by Bassi ensured the game went in to extra time.
In the first half of extra time, Roma were denied twice. An Iturbe header was cleared off the line by Mario Rui, while Ljajic’s shot brought out another top drawer save from Bassi.
However with five minutes left, a clumsy tackle by Zelinski on Paredes gave Roma a penalty, and De Rossi coolly sent Bassi the wrong way to put the home team 2-1 and secure progression in to the quarter finals.
