Lazio fightback seals Coppa
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-13 13:51

Lazio came back from two goals down to lift the Italian Cup for the fourth time on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at Juventus in the second leg to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Lazio's Bernardo Corradi kisses the trophy after defeating Juventus in the Italian Cup final second leg match at the Delle Alpi Stadium in Turin May 12, 2004. Lazio won the first match in Rome 2-0 and the second match ended in a 2-2 draw. [Reuters]

Juventus, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, pulled a goal back through French striker David Trezeguet in the 20th minute and then Alessandro Del Piero brought the tie level with a goal right after the interval.

But Lazio fought back with a header from Bernardo Corradi and a late Stefano Fiore strike to make it 2-2.

'This crowns a super season for us,' said Lazio coach Roberto Mancini.

'The lads deserve this after all the loyalty to the club they have shown through what has been a difficult two years with all our well known problems,' he added, referring to the club's financial difficulties.

The match was Juve coach Marcello Lippi's last on the bench at the Delle Alpi as he will leave the club at the end of the season and it looked as though it might well end in triumph with his side making a positive start.

Trezeguet rose above Giuseppe Favalli to meet an Alessandro Birindelli cross with a superb angled header that flashed into the bottom corner.

Juventus were well on top, particularly in midfield, with Lazio restricted to a shot from Fabio Liverani before the break.

Just 24 seconds after the restart Del Piero put Juve 2-0 up on the night, and level overall, with a clinical finish after Trezeguet had put him though following a Pavel Nedved knock down.

That opened up the prospect of extra time but Mancini brought on Simone Inzaghi to boost his attack and the move paid handsome dividends.

Suddenly, Lazio looked dangerous and the vital away goal came when Corradi rose majestically to power home a header from a Sinisa Mihajlovic corner.

The goal left Juventus needing two in the final 20 minutes but Lazio never looked back and six minutes from the end they made sure of lifting the Cup with Corradi heading down to Fiore who fired home from just inside the area.

'Juve had us in trouble early on,' said Mancini. 'But again, credit to the lads for not losing their heads and focusing on the job right to the end - they deserved this triumph'.

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