A highly exciting and hard-fought cup thriller was only decided in a penalty shootout. The shooters kept their nerves for a long time before Como keeper Butez saved the decisive penalty and became the man of the match with a 6-7 victory.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte rotated his squad after the 3-2 win against Genoa. Only Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Lobotka, Elmas, and Höjlund remained in the starting lineup.
Como coach Cesc Fabregas made four changes from the 0-0 draw against Atalanta: Diego Carlos, Sergi Roberto, Caqueret, and Addai replaced Kempf, da Cunha, Douvikas, and Vojvoda.
Baturina remains ice-cold from the spot
After an evenly matched opening few minutes without any major chances, the Neapolitans took control and created more and more attacking opportunities. However, there was nothing really noteworthy to report, as the hosts’ attack, led by striker Höjlund, repeatedly got tangled up in the Fabregas XI’s defense. The game only really picked up pace in the 38th minute when Valle crossed to the unmarked Smolcic, who was brought down by Olivera’s sliding tackle. Baturina converted the resulting penalty with ease (39′).
The Neapolitans were now under pressure. Shortly before the half-time whistle, a foul by Ramon on the onrushing Höjlund caused a stir. Napoli demanded a red card for a professional foul, but referee Manganiello settled for a yellow (45+2). It was a reasonable decision, as several defenders were still nearby.
Vergara gives Napoli a flying start
The second half was barely a minute old when the hosts struck. Höjlund played a superb pass to Vergara, who had escaped the defense, and the attacker suddenly found himself alone in front of Como keeper Butez and made no mistake (46′). After that, the Neapolitans pushed the visitors deep into their own half and immediately created the next chances: first, Ramon, who was already on a yellow card, was lucky not to see a second yellow for his hard tackle on Höjlund (48′), then Paz saved a header from Beukema just on the line.
In an intense and hard-fought quarterfinal, Como appeared less and less in the opponent’s box. Napoli looked for gaps in Fabregas’s tight defensive network. In the final stages, both teams were reluctant to take risks, with much of the action taking place between the boxes. Then the visitors launched a dangerous counterattack. When substitute Vojvoda took a shot, Milinkovic-Savic raised his hand at lightning speed and prevented his team from falling behind again (84′).
Lukaku and Lobotka show nerves
Not much else happened after that. The question of who would grab the semi-final ticket had to be decided in a penalty shootout. And it was a nail-biter: after the first three shooters all scored confidently, Lukaku was the first to show nerves from the spot. The burly striker pushed the ball half a meter wide to the right. Perrone failed to beat Milinkovic-Savic, so the penalty shootout went into extra time. Because Como was always allowed to take the first shot, the Neapolitans were always doomed to score. Goalkeeper Milinkovic-Savic handled the pressure and hammered the ball under the crossbar to tie the score at 5-5. Three penalties later, Lobotka was unable to do the same and failed with his half-height attempt against Butez, who became the man of the match with his save. Napoli now has to digest a bitter cup defeat, while Como will face Inter Milan in the semifinals.
Both teams will return to league action this weekend: Napoli will face AS Roma on Sunday (8:45 p.m.), while Como will take on Fiorentina a day earlier (3 p.m.).
