Napoli triumphs in penalty shootout to reach Italian Cup quarterfinals; Inter also advances

MILAN (AP) — Napoli advanced to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup by winning a lengthy penalty shootout against Cagliari following a 1-1 draw in regular time Wednesday.

Antonio Conte’s team eventually prevailed 9-8 on penalties with Mattia Felici hitting the crossbar with his spot kick for Cagliari and Zito Luvumbo having his saved by Napoli goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

David Neres could have secured the win for Napoli with his team’s fifth penalty, after Felici’s miss, but his spot kick was saved by Elia Caprile. Instead it was Alessandro Buongiorno who sealed the victory after even Milinkovic-Savic had taken — and scored — a spot kick.

The match had finished 1-1 after Lorenzo Lucca’s first-half header for Napoli was canceled out by Sebastiano Esposito in the 67th minute, following an accidental assist by home midfielder Scott McTominay.

Napoli will play either Fiorentina or Como in the quarterfinals.

First for Diouf

Inter moved into the last eight with a crushing 5-1 victory over Venezia — the only Serie B team left in the competition.

Both Napoli and Inter heavily rotated their squads, with both teams also involved in the Serie A title race and in the Champions League.

Andy Diouf was given his first start and set Inter on the way with his first goal for the Nerazzurri in the 18th minute. Pio Esposito doubled Inter’s tally just two minutes later before a double from Marcus Thuram all but secured the victory.

Richie Sagrado netted a consolation for Venezia but Ange-Yoan Bonny restored the four-goal advantage.

Inter will next play either Roma or Torino.

Atalanta to face Juventus

Atalanta set up an Italian Cup quarterfinal match against Juventus with a 4-0 win over 10-man Genoa.

It was Daniele De Rossi ’s first defeat as Genoa coach after taking charge at the beginning of last month.

Berat Djimsiti headed in a cross to give Atalanta the lead in the 19th minute and Genoa’s task became more difficult when teenager Seydou Fini was sent off in the 36th for bringing down Raoul Bellanova when he was through on goal.

Marten de Roon doubled Atalanta’s lead early in the second half with a powerful, swerving shot from outside the area and Mario Pasalic slid in to fire home the third late on.

The 17-year-old Honest Ahanor — who joined Atalanta from Genoa in July — scored his first senior goal in stoppage time.

Juventus beat Udinese in their round of 16 match on Tuesday.

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