Lazio rally to knock Udinese out of Coppa Italia

Lazio recovered from conceding a stunning goal by Udinese’s Panagiotis Kone to see off their Serie A rivals 2-1 in Coppa Italia action.

Alessandro Matri and Danilo Cataldi scored twice in the space of nine second-half minutes to book a quarter-final clash with Juventus – the team that beat Lazio in last season’s final.

Stefano Pioli’s side dominated for the majority of the match at a sparsely populated Stadio Olimpico, yet a combination of poor finishing and some fine saves by visiting goalkeeper Alex Meret kept the teams deadlocked at the end of the first half.

Matri and Mauricio were both denied by Meret before the break, while the former also volleyed wide at the far post when in a position to do better.

It seemed Lazio would pay dearly for their profligacy when Udinese took the lead thanks to a moment of brilliance from Kone after 67 minutes.

The Greek controlled a deep cross as it dipped over his shoulder with his right foot and then, in the same movement, acrobatically volleyed the ball into the far corner of the goal.

However, Lazio hit back just three minutes later, Matri making the most of a lucky break in the area to steer the ball beyond the diving Meret.

Cataldi’s winner also owed a little to good fortune, as he was in the right place to head home a close-range rebound after Meret had turned away a volley.