[Coppa] Lazio triumph as Samp pay penalty

Lazio lifted the Coppa Italia for the fifth time after beating Sampdoria 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The Romans took the lead after only four minutes when Mauro Zarate found the far corner with a fine right-foot shot from wide on the left.

Sampdoria responded well but on 28 minutes it was Lazio who went close to scoring the second when goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi was forced to make two consecutive saves, diving to his right after a powerful left-foot shot from distance by Alexandar Kolarov before denying Goran Pandev on the rebound.

Two minutes later, the Blucerchiati equalised when Antonio Cassano sent in a cross from the left that Marius Stankevicius headed to Giampaolo Pazzini, who nodded in from close range.

Two minutes after the half time break Cassano found space again on the left and delivered a low cross which forced Kolarov to clear off the goal line with Fernando Muslera beaten.

Samp had the clearest opportunity to score in extra time when Cassano dribbled past two Lazio defenders on the right and found Pazzini at the far post, only for Lorenzo De Silvestri to slide in and deny the striker, who had the goal at his mercy.

In the shoot-out, Muslera saved the first penalty from Cassano, while Tommaso Rocchi hit the post for Lazio. Muslera then saved Sampdoria's seventh penalty from Hugo Campagnaro and Ousmane Dabo kept his nerve to give Lazio the trophy they last won in 2004.

The success means Delio Rossi's side earn a spot in next season's inaugural UEFA Europa League and also a place in August's Italian Supercoppa final in Beijing against the Serie A champions. Sampdoria, meanwhile, will be without European football next season with the club sitting in mid-table.

[Lazio lift Coppa] - [Delio Rossi] - [Claudio Lotito] - [Lazio players] - [Walter Mazzarri]

Source: UEFA