Pellegrini brace sees Roma book last Italian Cup quarter-final spot

Italy midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini scored both goals to send Roma into the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Parma on Thursday. In a match between fifth-placed Roma and Parma, in seventh, the side from the capital prevailed to return to winning ways in the Ennio Tardini Stadium after back-to-back league defeats.

Pellegrini, 23, struck the first just after the break and added the second from the penalty spot on 76 minutes after an Antonino Barilla handball in the penalty area.

Roma next play Juventus in the quarter-finals at the Allianz Stadium after the record 14-time Cup winners brushed aside Udinese 4-0 on Wednesday.

Roma are second only to Juventus in the number of Cup trophies with nine, most recently in 2008.

Holders Lazio made short work of Serie B side Cremonese in their 4-0 victory in Rome on Tuesday with last year’s finalists Atalanta falling 2-1 to 10-man Fiorentina.

Inter Milan beat Cagliari 4-1 while city rivals AC Milan dispatched SPAL, 3-0, with new star signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic remaining on the bench.

Agence France-Presse


Quarter-final fixtures (all times 1945GMT):
Tuesday, Jan.21: Napoli vs Lazio
Wednesday, Jan.22: Juventus vs AS Roma (1945)
Tuesday, Jan.28: AC Milan vs Torino
Wednesday, Jan.29: Inter Milan vs Fiorentina