Primavera, the Rossoblù reach the Coppa Italia quarterfinals

The Rossoblù Primavera secures a spot in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals: at the CRAI Sport Center, they defeat Torino 2-0 thanks to Sulev’s brace in the second half.

THE LINE-UP
In front of Iliev, the defense consists of Cogoni, Pintus, and Soldati. The wingers are Arba and Marini, with Balde, Marcolini, and Sulev in midfield. Up front, Bolzan and Vinciguerra lead the attack.

GRIT AND RUNNING, BUT NO GOALS
The guests start strong, with the Rossoblù ready to counter with quick breakaways. It’s a battle for every ball, although clear goal-scoring chances are few and far between. The first opportunity of the match comes in the 39th minute, when Vinciguerra takes advantage of a flick in the box but is denied by Torino’s goalkeeper Siviero at the last moment. A few minutes later, Iliev is called into action, clearing an dangerous cross-shot from Cacciamani just below the crossbar. Before the end of the half, Vinciguerra is in the spotlight again with a beautiful volley, but Siviero saves with a corner kick.

SULEV’S BRACE
The second half opens with Vinciguerra again, who, capitalizing on a clearance from the defense, enters the box and sets up for a shot. However, his effort is central and easily blocked by the goalkeeper. The deadlock is broken in the 54th minute: Sulev is found just past the midfield line, the Bulgarian midfielder drives forward and, from over 20 meters, fires a right-footed shot that finds the bottom corner. In the 59th minute, Sulev doubles the lead with an almost identical move: floating between the lines of defense and midfield, he receives the ball and, once again from outside the box, unleashes another powerful and precise right-footed shot. The angle changes, now to the right, but the result remains the same: it’s a brace.

ROSSOBLÙ TO THE QUARTERFINALS
Cagliari makes its first substitutions: Arba, Vinciguerra, and Sulev come off to make way for Grandu, Achour, and Tronci. In the 70th minute, a nice move from Tronci, who dribbles past two defenders in tight space and crosses for Bolzan: the striker shoots from a good position, but the goalkeeper makes the save. Torino responds: in the 74th minute, Raballo receives a pass from the right inside the penalty area, controls, and turns to shoot, but the ball goes just over the bar. Coach Pisacane brings on fresh legs again in the 76th minute, with Trepy and Malfitano replacing Bolzan and Balde. In the 79th minute, Cagliari has a chance to make it 3-0: Achour wins the ball back and plays a perfect through ball to Trepy, who, from inside the box, shoots from a good position but sends the ball wide. The Rossoblù manage their two-goal lead while Torino pushes forward, trying to get back into the match. The final chance of the game comes almost at the end of the four minutes of added time: Conzato’s free kick from the left edge of the penalty area is dangerous but drifts wide. The match ends 2-0, and now Cagliari will face Fiorentina in the quarterfinals.

CAGLIARI: Iliev, Arba (16’ s.t. Grandu), Cogoni, Soldati, Pintus, Marini, Sulev (23’ s.t. Achour), Marcolini, Balde (31’ s.t. Malfitano), Vinciguerra (23’ s.t. Tronci), Bolzan (31’ s.t. Trepy). A disp.: Sarno, Auseklis, Collu, Simonetta, Liteta, Ardau. All. Pisacane

TORINO: Siviero, Gabellini (30’s.t. Raballo), Perciun (16’ s.t. Dalla Vecchia), Olsson Cornelius, Zaia (32’ s.t. Dimitri), Acar (16’ s.t. Conzato), Bonadiman, Bianay Balcot, Djalo, Liema Olinga (32’ Sabone s.t.), Cacciamani. A disp.: Plaia, Proietti, Rossi, Krzyzanowski, Mendes, Gallo. All.: Tufano.

REFEREE: Toro di Catania

GOALS: 9’ e 14’ p.t. Sulev