Lazio beat rivals Roma to reach Coppa Italia semi-finals as three players sent off in heated Rome derby

Lazio are through to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia after beating rivals Roma 1-0 in an unsurprisingly fierce Rome derby, which saw three players sent off.

Mattia Zaccagni’s second-half penalty proved to be enough to send Maurizio Sarri’s side into the last four of the competition.

Lazio lined up at the Stadio Olimpico without club captain Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto, who remain out injured, while Christos Mandas made his debut in goal.

Jose Mourinho gave a first start to 18-year-old Dutch defender Dean Huijsen after he arrived at Roma on loan from Juventus.

A tense first half saw little in the way of chances with Taty Castellanos’ deflected effort the best opening for Lazio.

Roma were dealt a blow at half-time when forward Paulo Dybala went off injured.

The first clear chance of the game did not arrive until the second period when Matias Vecino met Felipe Anderson’s cross, but Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio kept out his header with a one-handed save.

However, from the resulting corner Castellanos got to the ball before new-boy Huijsen, who kicked the back of his ankle to give away a penalty.

Zaccagni stuttered towards the ball before sending Patricio the wrong way to give Lazio the lead.

Roma pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages, with Andrea Belotti’s low drive kept out and Romelu Lukaku’s overhead kick flying over the crossbar.

Always a feisty affair, the derby lived up to its reputation with three players shown red cards as the match edged towards its conclusion.

First, Pedro was sent off for Lazio after receiving a second yellow card for a scuffle with Leandro Paredes. That will rule him out of the first leg of the semi-final.

Then, two Roma players were dismissed, Sardar Azmoun for a coming together with Nicolo Rovella, and Gianluca Mancini for dissent which see him shown red after the final whistle.

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