Gervinho sees Roma past Juve in Cup quarters
24 Jan 2014 4:36 AM IST
Roma had suffered a 3-0 league defeat to Juventus a fortnight ago and with the hosts losing last season’s final to Lazio, coach Rudi Garcia fielded a full-strength side at a packed Olympic Stadium.
Roma, as might be expected, dominated the early exchanges with Radja Nainggolan and Alessandro Florenzi seeing shots go wide, but it took until late in the half for the Giallorossi to threaten.
Vasilis Torosidis whipped in a superb curling ball at the far post with which Kevin Strootman, at full stretch, narrowly failed to make contact. Roma captain Francesco Totti then saw his volleyed snapshot go wide, while Florenzi failed to reach Gervinho’s ball when it was fired across the box.
Juventus had the ball in the net shortly after the restart when Federico Peloso headed past Juve number two ‘keeper Marco Storari from close range, but his effort was ruled offside. Florenzi was next to come close with a header from Torosidis which took Storari by surprise but the second half was nowhere near as productive as the first. As the game stalled, Garcia replaced Florenzi with Miralem Pjanic while Conte attempted to waken his team from their relative slumber by replacing striker Sebastian Giovinco with Llorente on 77 minutes.
Garcia’s switch was to pay dividends, Pjanic reaching the ball before Andrea Barzagli to stride forward and set up Strootman deep on the left. The Dutchman’s cross arrived in the box and Gervinho did well with to tap the ball home.
Man City beat West Ham to reach League Cup final
MANCHESTER: Manchester City swept into the League Cup final with a ruthless 3-0 win at West Ham on Tuesday which completed a 9-0 aggregate victory in a brutally one-sided semifinal. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had already effectively booked their place at Wembley after winning the first leg 6-0 at Eastlands, but they didn’t take it easy in the return at Upton Park. Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero put City two goals up before half-time in east London and Negredo struck again after the break to cap another clinical display from one of the most potent strike-forces in Europe. Manchester City will face arch rivals Manchester United in the final on March 2 if David Moyes’ side can overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their semi-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Roma, as might be expected, dominated the early exchanges with Radja Nainggolan and Alessandro Florenzi seeing shots go wide, but it took until late in the half for the Giallorossi to threaten.
Vasilis Torosidis whipped in a superb curling ball at the far post with which Kevin Strootman, at full stretch, narrowly failed to make contact. Roma captain Francesco Totti then saw his volleyed snapshot go wide, while Florenzi failed to reach Gervinho’s ball when it was fired across the box.
Juventus had the ball in the net shortly after the restart when Federico Peloso headed past Juve number two ‘keeper Marco Storari from close range, but his effort was ruled offside. Florenzi was next to come close with a header from Torosidis which took Storari by surprise but the second half was nowhere near as productive as the first. As the game stalled, Garcia replaced Florenzi with Miralem Pjanic while Conte attempted to waken his team from their relative slumber by replacing striker Sebastian Giovinco with Llorente on 77 minutes.
Garcia’s switch was to pay dividends, Pjanic reaching the ball before Andrea Barzagli to stride forward and set up Strootman deep on the left. The Dutchman’s cross arrived in the box and Gervinho did well with to tap the ball home.
Man City beat West Ham to reach League Cup final
MANCHESTER: Manchester City swept into the League Cup final with a ruthless 3-0 win at West Ham on Tuesday which completed a 9-0 aggregate victory in a brutally one-sided semifinal. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had already effectively booked their place at Wembley after winning the first leg 6-0 at Eastlands, but they didn’t take it easy in the return at Upton Park. Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero put City two goals up before half-time in east London and Negredo struck again after the break to cap another clinical display from one of the most potent strike-forces in Europe. Manchester City will face arch rivals Manchester United in the final on March 2 if David Moyes’ side can overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their semi-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
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