NAPLES: Napoli alleviated their crisis when an early solo goal by Lorenzo Insigne gave them a 1-0 win over holders Lazio in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Tuesday, which also featured a bizarre penalty miss by Ciro Immobile for the losers.

There were also two red cards in the first half hour and both sides hit the woodwork twice in the second half while Lazio had two goals disallowed as they exited the competition in a remarkable game.

Lazio had won their last six matches in all competitions while Napoli had lost four out of six — including three at home — since Gennaro Gattuso replaced Carlo Ancelotti in December, plunging them into a crisis.

“We’ve been through an embarrassing period but today the lads have played a great match against the very good team who are Lazio,” said Gattuso.

“I saw a team with great spirit, you need a lot of intensity to play Lazio... We need to stay hungry and not rest on our laurels,” he added. “We need to keep playing with this hunger and this venom.”

Te hosts took the lead in the second minute, as Insigne beat a couple of Lazio players before firing in from a tight angle.

Lazio could have leveled seven minutes later from a penalty when Napoli defender Elseid Hysaj fouled Felipe Caicedo in the area but Immobile slipped as he was taking the spot kick and scooped the ball harmlessly wide.

Hysaj was booked in that incident and he was sent off in the 19th following another yellow card.

However, the two teams were back level in terms of numbers six minutes later when Lucas Leiva was sent off for dissent after being booked.

Napoli will face Fiorentina or Inter Milan, who face off on January 29 at the San Siro, in the two-legged semi-finals.

“We deserved more, were disappointed because we really held this competition dear,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t manage to turn things our way but I congratulated the guys for their performance.”

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2020