Italian Cup, Cremonese-Fiorentina 0-2: Cabral, Nico Gonzalez (penalty)

From our correspondent Matteo Pierelli

April 5th
– cream

A dominated first half, a second half in which she was able to suffer just for a few minutes, to then strike definitively. Fiorentina in this period does not miss a beat. For Viola, the one in Cremona, in the first leg of the semi-final of the Coppa Italia (return on 27 April), is the ninth consecutive success in all competitions and the 2-0 signed by Cabral in the first half and Nico Gonzalez (from a penalty) in the second half it is worth a very strong mortgage on the final that has been missing since 2014 (ko with Napoli). The Tuscans had it easy against a Cremonese who started with a few too many awes and who in the long run paid for the different quality. Aiwu’s expulsion in the 73rd minute, which caused the penalty, did the rest. Thus, yet another miracle in the Italian Cup, this time the Grigiorossi failed and the first final in history is now very far away.

purple in control

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Cremonese on the pitch with a 3-4-1-2 and surprisingly without Sernicola, Dessers and Carnesecchi replaced by Sarr, the Cup goalkeeper. Fiorentina with the tested 4-2-3-1 with Barak starting in place of Bonaventura, fresh from the San Siro winning goal against Inter. After a start soiled by the throwing of smoke bombs by the Viola fans, it was Fiorentina who took over the reins of the match. The Italian team tries to break through on the left with Nico Gonzalez and on the right with Ikoné, but their outbursts in the first minutes don’t produce much, indeed it is the Cremonese who come close to the lead in the 10th minute thanks to a great left foot from Tsadjout deflected by Terracciano with your fingertips. Fiorentina reacts immediately with a right-footed shot from Cabral which ends very close to the post. A sort of foretaste of what happened shortly after: in the 20th minute Biraghi’s perfect cross from the left was thrown in by Cabral. Cremonese accuses the blow and almost doubles, but Nico Gonzalez fails to take advantage of a comfortable opportunity face to face with Sarr.

gray-reds in ten

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In the second half Ballardini removes Castagnetti and Tdadjout for Buonaiuto and Dessers. Just the Nigerian with a good action tries in the 50th minute but his right foot is rejected by Teracciano with his fists. Cremonese, with the entry of the new players, grows and is still close to 1-1 with Buonaiuito who, after a nice exchange with Dessers, shoots at goalkeeper Viola, wasting a great opportunity. Shortly afterwards, a sly Fiorentina strikes again thanks to a penalty granted by Mariani (with the signal from the Var) for an evident hand by Aiwu (later sent off) on a shot by Cabral with a sure shot. From the penalty spot, Nico Gonzalez displaces Sarr. With Cremonese in ten the game gradually drags itself towards the most logical conclusion and now Fiorentina, in the return leg, will only have to be careful not to get distracted: they can even afford to lose with a one-goal difference.