Napoli ousts Fiorentina to reach Coppa Italia semifinals
NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Napoli beat Fiorentina 1-0 to advance to the Italian Cup semifinals and extend its unbeaten streak in all competitions to 15 matches on Tuesday.
Jose Callejon used a header to redirect a powerful cross from captain Marek Hamsik and the ball bent back the fingers of goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu midway through the second half.
Following his 10th goal in all competitions, Callejon performed a celebratory dance.
"They play great football but we played very maturely and very seriously," he said. "Tactically, mentally, and in terms of suffering, we played a great match."
Napoli will next face either Juventus or AC Milan, who play on Wednesday in Turin. The Partenopei, which face Real Madrid in the Champions League knockout round, have not lost since falling to Juventus 2-1 on Oct. 29 in Serie A.
In the other half of the draw, it's Inter Milan vs. Lazio and Roma vs. Cesena.
Napoli and Fiorentina entertained. Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to stop an explosive effort from Federico Chiesa, Fiorentina's 19-year-old forward, early on.
Three minutes later, Napoli's newly signed forward, Leonardo Pavoletti, wasted a golden chance by shooting high.
And just before the half-hour mark, Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne hit the crossbar with a free kick.
Insigne was at it again in the 63rd but Tatarusanu made a difficult save near the corner of the goal frame on another free kick.
Both teams ended with 10 men.
Napoli's Elseid Hysaj picked up his second yellow in the 90th and Fiorentina's Maximiliano Olivera was shown his second yellow in added time.
Five-time champion Napoli last won the Cup in 2014.
