Vucinic And Taddei Fire Giallorossi Into Coppa Italia Semi-Finals
Mirko Vucinic's wondergoal and Rodrigo Taddei's acrobatic finish were the difference as Roma edged a tight tie against Juventus in Turin.Vucinic's curled effort on 65 minutes gave Roma the lead before Taddei wrapped up the victory on 91 minutes, two moments of magic in what turned out to be a turgid affair.
Roma will face reigning champions Inter in the semi-finals with Palermo and Milan contesting the other.
The game endured a slow start with both sides approaching the fixture in a slightly cautious manner with the reward of a Coppa Italia semi-final place at stake.
It was the away side who had the first opportunity of the game on 17 minutes. Jeremy Menez whipped in a dangerous looking corner from the right which was met by a powerful header from Nicolas Burdisso. Unfortunately for Roma the effort flew a yard wide of Marco Storari's goal.
Two minutes later it was the Romans who came close again to taking the lead. Menez's good play down the wing saw the Frenchman square the ball to Vucinic on the edge of the area. The highly-sought after striker hit decent shot towards Storari which the 'keeper inexplicably spilled in front of Fabio Simplicio. Luckily for Storari the Brazilian could only hit the ball wide from a tight angle.
Juventus saw their first effort on goal arrive on 28 minutes when Alessandro Del Piero's 25 yard strike took a slight deflection off a Roma defender which left Julio Sergio sprawling across goal to put the ball out for a corner.
Both sides looked to edge the tie in their favour by bringing on Milos Krasic and Marco Borriello at half-time but the second half started in a similar fashion to the first, slow and uneventful.
The Serbian Krasic looked to spark a little life into Juventus and on 63 minutes the ex-CSKA man went on a mazy run before attempting to chip Julio Sergio just outside the box. Unfortunately for the home faithful the effort drifted just over the bar.
The game was screaming out for a moment of magic and on 65 minutes Vucinic stepped up to the plate. A wonderful long-ball by Daniele De Rossi found Vucinic on the left wing. The Montenegro international dribbled into the box before curling an unstoppable effort into the far corner with Storari getting nowhere near it.
Three minutes later it could have been two for the away team. Rodrigo Taddei's excellent corner found Philippe Mexes unmarked who saw his point-blank range header acrobatically saved by the Juventus 'keeper.
Juventus pushed for an equaliser but lacked that special final ball to really cause Julio Sergio problems.
Roma killed the game off on 91 minutes when De Rossi found Taddei who acrobatically diverted the ball into the top corner from 12 yards, a wonderful goal.
Both sides return to Serie A action over the weekend where Juventus entertain Udinese while Roma travel to Bologna.
