The 2022 Coppa Italia finalists are now confirmed and the showpiece final on the 11th of May, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, will see Inter Milan and Juventus battle it out for the trophy.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter are on target for a domestic Scudetto and Coppa triumph after trouncing Milan 3-0 in the second leg of their tie; while the Old Lady also came through with a 3-0 aggregate win over Fiorentina, 2-0 on the night.
Stats don’t mean a thing if you can’t score
With 52 per cent possession, 19 shots to ten and even six to four on target AC Milan won many of the statistical battles on Tuesday night, but it was AC Milan keeper Mike Maignan who picked the ball out of his net three times while Inter stopper Samir Handanovic comfortably kept a clean sheet.
It was a fair bet that Inter’s top scorer Lautaro Martinez would feature heavily in the Coppa Italia 2022 highlights this week and the Argentine striker struck the first of his brace just four minutes in as I Nerazzurri took a stranglehold on the tie. It was Martinez’ first goal in the tournament and a brilliantly taken one as he controlled a cross from Matteo Darmian, beating Fikayo Tomori to the ball before rifling his shot past Maignan and into the net.
Tomori was left standing by Martinez again when he latched on to a well measured through ball from Joaquin Correa and this time, as Maignan raced out, he dinked a delightful chip over the keeper and into the net to put the tie beyond reasonable doubt. With a two goal cushion Inzaghi sent on Robin Gosens and he got his first goal since joining the club from Atalanta on loan with a simple tap in on 82 minutes.
Four shots on target and three goals sounds good for Inter, but not so pleasing for poor Mike Maignan.
Was Inter’s win a Scudetto sign?
This derby defeat was a bitter pill for Stefano Pioli’s Milan to swallow as they were clinically dismantled by Inter’s outstanding attack, while I Nerazzurri didn’t seem remotely worried by the risk of away goals counting double after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.
A couple of frustrating goalless draws in the league has made Milan’s title challenge more difficult and this defeat to their closest and fiercest rivals won’t have helped their confidence, particularly as their midfield was overrun in the vital moments in the game. Inzaghi wouldn’t be drawn on the question of whether this puts his side in pole position for the Scudetto but he did make his intentions clear, saying: “We hope that we can keep this momentum going and we’ve been working for this since July. We know the journey we’ve been on, we won the Supercoppa in January, we have a final in May and also want to end the Serie A season in the best possible way.”
Inter are two points behind their city rivals with a game in hand, and here at SBOTOP we are backing I Nerazzurri to retain the Scudetto at around 1.45. But the Coppa Italia is in the balance.
Juventus’ hunt for silverware is still on
The Coppa is Juventus’ last chance for Silverware this season and they came into the semi-finals as favourites to lift the title according to the Coppa Italia 2022 betting odds though now, with Inter Milan in the final it will be a tough game to call. I Bianconeri came into their tie against Fiorentina with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg and the red hot striker Dusan Vlahovic had a great chance to double the lead, but Viola keeper Bart Dragowski saved well. But the keeper was less certain when he was faced by Juve forward Federico Bernardeschi when he slotted home with his left foot, to send the fans in Turin wild.
Defender Adrien Rabiot thought he’d doubled Juve’s lead on the night when he fired home on 70 minutes, but after a lengthy VAR review the goal was ruled out and the Viola were still just about in the game. But the Old Lady saw the job through with a three goal win on aggregate when Danilo slotted home deep into stoppage time. But don’t think this was a comfortable night for Max Allegri’s Bianconeri. The Viola took the game to their hosts and dominated possession with almost 70 per cent possession, 17 shots to eight and five to three on target; but, like Milan, the stats are no consolation for Fiorentina.
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