Juventus and Roma both made it through to the final of the Viareggio Cup 2012 in dramatic fashion.
The Bianconeri had to wait until the 85th minute when a sole Spinazzola goal gave them a 1-0 win over Parma, while the Giallorossi only managed to defeat their opponents Fiorentina on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal and extra time.
Juventus were by far the better side in their semi-final, having much of the play and pinning Parma into their own -half for the majority of the game. Libertazzi went close early on before De Silvestro hit the post in the first half.
More of the same continued in the second but just as it looked like the game would go into extra-time, Gouano’s cross was flicked on to Chibsah whose mishit shot ended up on the head of Spinazzola at the back post, and his free header broke the deadlock whilst also sending Juve into the final.
Roma on the other hand had a much tougher match against La Viola who took the lead after just 27 seconds with Zahore pouncing after Pigliacelli parried a shot into his path.
In a tough contest both teams were clearly giving every ounce of energy they had and just after the half hour, Roma got their reward when the referee gave them a penalty, but Giallorossi captain was denied by Svedkauskas, who kept his team in front.
Though in the second half, De Rossi’s men were well on top and took the game to their opponents. They quickly got an equaliser thanks to Romagnoli, who deflected a Politano free kick into the net.
Politano and Tallo both went close in the dying moments as they looked to clinch the game in extra-time. Fiorentina looked to be tiring, but the managed to hang on and the game went to penalties.
It was Roma who kept their nerve dispatching all their spot-kicks but Empereur was the villain for La Viola as he was the only player not to score.
Fiorentina 1-1 Roma 3-5 on penalties
Goals: 1′ Zohore (F); 49′ Romagnoli (R).
Fiorentina: Svedkauskas, Bittante (56′ Rozzio), Empereur, Camporese, Ashong, Cenciarelli (107′ 2nd ET. Panatti), Agyei, Acosty, Campanharo (96′ 1st ET. Baccarin), Matos, Zohore. Subs: Lezzerini, Bernardeschi, Biondi, Gondo, Magheri. Coach: Semplici.
Roma: Pigliacelli, Sabelli (120′ 2ns ET. Ricci F.), Orchi, Barba, Nego (38′ Romagnoli), Verre, Viviani, Ricci M., Politano, Piscitella (107′ 2nd ET. Frediani), Tallo. Subs: Proietti Gaffi, Ceccarelli, Cittadino, Leonardi, Lopez, Rosato. Coach: De Rossi.
Juventus 1-0 Parma
Reti: 85′ Spinazzola (J).
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Branescu; Untersee, Gouano, Rubin, Liviero; Chibsah, Appelt; De Silvestro (88′ Schiavone), Bouy (63′ Margiotta), Spinazzola; Libertazzi (68′ Beltrame). Subs: Gagliardini, Corticchia, Belfasti, Emmanuello, Garcia, Magnusson. Coach: Baroni.
Parma (4-3-3): Gallinetta; Zagnoni, Mantovani, Di Gennaro, Petrini; Adofo, Addae, Bentoglio; Sprocati (78′ Malivojevic), Monachello, Pedrinelli (48′ Nunes). Subs: Anacoura, Yamnaine, Adorni, Sahman, Lemajic, Abbracciante, Dias. Coach: Pizzi.
Viareggio Cup 2012 – Top Scorers
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