TURIN, Italy (AP) — Juventus stayed on course for a record Coppa Italia title with a 2-0 win over Lazio in the first leg of their semifinal on Tuesday night.
Juventus were taunted off the pitch at half-time, Federico Chiesa and Dušan Vlahović scoring after the break to give the Bianconeri their first win in 10 games.
The second leg will take place on April 23. Atalanta will face Fiorentina on Wednesday in the semi-final.
Juventus lost to Lazio in the league on Saturday, in Igor Tudor’s first game in the capital team.
Vlahović was suspended for that match but returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday.
Juventus thought they had a chance to take an early lead when they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Lazio midfielder Matias Vecino on Andrea Cambiaso, however, the referee overturned his decision after reviewing the incident on the pitch monitor because the Juventus player was offside.
Lazio nearly broke the deadlock shortly before halftime when Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin tried to beat Luis Alberto’s header but it went over the crossbar.
Instead, it was Juventus who took the lead five minutes after the break when Chiesa ran after a ball from Cambiaso and fired into the right back corner.
That set Juventus alight and they doubled their tally in the 64th minute when Weston McKennie played a pass for Vlahović, who beat his marker with a step before making his way into the back corner.
It was Vlahović’s 16th goal this season and 10th in as many games.
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