Lazio holds off Roma to reach 3rd Coppa Italia final in 5 years
Lazio loves a good odd year.
The Biancocelesti, a 2013 Coppa Italia winner and 2015 finalist, will appear in a third showpiece in five years after defeating eternal rival Roma 4-3 on aggregate.
Lazio twice blew the lead and eventually conceded a winner in Tuesday's second leg - a 3-2 result for the Giallorossi - but a 2-0 win in the first leg put Simone Inzaghi's side in a position of strength.
Lazio will face either Juventus or Napoli in the June 2 final at the Stadio Olimpico.
Juventus heads into Wednesday's reverse fixture with a 3-1 advantage.
If Lazio hadn't dominated the first 90 minutes of the tie, it could very well have crashed out of the competition. Roma played substantially better Tuesday, and responded every time its greatest foe went ahead.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who also scored in the first fixture, pounced on a rebound to draw first blood, but six minutes later, mercurial winger Stephan El Shaarawy curled in an equaliser to keep Roma in contention.
Beating Roma's criminally high line, leading Lazio scorer Ciro Immobile bagged his 21st goal in all competitions shortly after the interval. Mohamed Salah cancelled out the Italy international's solo effort when he banged in a shot that crashed off the post.
The Egyptian made Lazio sweat in the 90th minute, as he once again took advantage of sloppy defending.
But Roma ultimately came up short.
The result leaves Spalletti under a cloud of uncertainty. He has said on several occasions that he would vacate his position as Roma manager if the club cannot claim a first trophy since 2008.
Now that it is out of both the Europa League and Coppa Italia, its only hope of silverware is confined to Serie A, where it currently trails Juventus by six points with eight matches remaining.
For Inzaghi, however, the aggregate victory validates a season of tremendous progress. Hired as a second-choice to Marcelo Bielsa after the Argentine's sudden departure, the brother of AC Milan legend Filippo Inzaghi has guided his team to fourth place in the league.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)