Atalanta battle back to knock AC Milan out of Coppa Italia
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Atalanta set up an Italian Cup semifinal with Fiorentina after winning 2-1 at AC Milan on Wednesday.
Teun Koopmeiners struck either side of half-time of an entertaining quarter-final to continue Atalanta's bid for a first major trophy since 1963, when they last won the competition.
"We have have done so much in recent years," said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
"We might not have any silverware ... but we have reached the Italian Cup final in the past and we want to go all the way."
Rafael Leao put Milan ahead in the 45th minute following brilliant interplay with Theo Hernandez which ended with the Portugal winger stroking home a first-time finish.
Shortly before, Gasperini had been sent off for his livid reaction to his team not being given a penalty when Milan's Tijjani Reijnders shoved Marten de Roon just as he looked set to prod home Charles De Ketelaere's knockdown.
De Roon instead clashed heads with Matteo Gabbia with such force that the pair were both forced to leave the field.
"The footage speaks for itself," added Gasperini.
"Nobody understands if it is VAR or the referee who is officiating, and that is a big problem.
"There is such a big difference in how certain incidents are dealt with. There's no clarity at all."
Instead of simply bemoaning their poor fortune, Atalanta reacted immediately to Leao's opener when Koopmeiners swept home a superb shot on the stroke of half-time.
And just before the hour mark, Netherlands midfielder Koopmeiners struck what turned out to be the decisive goal from the penalty spot, after Alex Jimenez brought down Aleksei Miranchuk.
This time it was Milan's turn to feel aggrieved as Jimenez appeared to clip the ball before touching Miranchuk, but again there was no VAR intervention on referee Marco Di Bello's decision.
"It wasn't a penalty, our player touched the ball, their player threw himself to the ground before being touched," said Milan boss Stefano Pioli.
"It's a shame because the cup was an objective for us, one that we don't have anymore. It's a bad night for us."