Bologna defeated Atalanta 1-0 on Tuesday, and Santiago Castro scored a late goal off the bench to guarantee a trip to the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
10 minutes from time, Vincenzo Italiano’s team was rewarded for controlling the most of the game. They will now play in the semi-finals against either Empoli or Juventus.
Charles De Ketelaere put visiting goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski to the test early on, and Davide Zappacosta then blasted over, giving Atalanta the first chance to score.
Before halftime, Bologna gained momentum and nearly took the lead, but Rui Patricio easily stopped Jhon Lucumi’s effort.
After halftime, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team struggled to generate any clear-cut opportunities despite trying to recover from back-to-back draws to Barcelona and Torino.
Italiano introduced Castro, who had an instant impact at the Gewiss Stadium as both teams battled for a victory.
The Argentine secured the victory by nodding Charalampos Lykogiannis’s accurate cross past Patricio at the back post just two minutes after entering the game.
Bologna made a spectacular comeback from their Champions League elimination last week, making it to the eagerly anticipated Coppa Italia stage.
Under Carlo Mazzone, Bologna will make it to the Coppa Italia semifinals for the first time since 1999. The Rossoblu made sure there was no third straight exit after losing in the quarterfinals the previous two seasons.
With an expected goals (xG) total of 1.43 from 13 shots versus Atalanta’s 0.87 from the same number of attempts, the visitors more than deserved their victory.
