Lazio beats Roma in tense capital derby to reach Italian Cup semifinals

ROME (AP) — Lazio advanced to the Italian Cup semifinals by beating Roma 1-0 on Wednesday in a tense derby that saw three players sent off.

Two Roma players were given red cards and key forward Paulo Dybala came off at halftime with yet another problem in his long list of muscular injuries. The World Cup winner from Argentina will be a doubt for Sunday’s Serie A match at AC Milan, where Roma coach José Mourinho will also be absent while serving a suspension after being sent off last weekend.

Lazio will face either Juventus or Frosinone in the two-legged semifinals in April. Juventus hosts Frosinone in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

The other semifinal pits Fiorentina against Atalanta, which won 2-1 at Milan. Fiorentina beat Bologna on penalties on Tuesday.

After a drab first half at the Stadio Olimpico, Mattia Zaccagni converted a penalty for Lazio in the 51st minute after Taty Castellanos had been fouled by Roma defender Dean Huijsen.

Lazio forward Pedro was sent off in the sixth minute of stoppage time after receiving two yellow cards in two minutes. Romelu Lukaku almost equalized for Roma moments later but his acrobatic, overhead kick went over the bar.

Roma forward Sardar Azmoun later was given a straight red card for essentially slapping Lazio midfielder Nicolò Rovella on the back of the head, while teammate Gianluca Mancini got sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

COMEBACK

Teun Koopmeiners scored twice as Atalanta swiftly recovered from going a goal behind at San Siro.

Milan took the lead in the final minute of the first half when Rafael Leão burst down the left and exchanged passes with Théo Hernandez before curling into the far bottom corner.

However, Koopmeiners leveled almost immediately and then fired Atalanta into the lead from the spot in the 59th minute after Aleksej Miranchuck had been fouled by Milan teenager Alejandro Jiménez in the penalty area.

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