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Coppa: Pazzini books Viola spot Wednesday 16 January, 2008

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Fiorentina took their time, but a Giampaolo Pazzini brace disposed of Serie B side Ascoli 2-0 to reach the Coppa Italia quarters.

The Viola were relatively comfortable after their 1-1 away draw in the first leg, but found it difficult to break down the visitors to the Stadio Franchi.

Pazzini was lively from the start, eager to earn his place back in the team after losing out to Christian Vieri in recent Serie A games, but his header and a splendid Franco Semioli strike were denied by goalkeeper Bremec.

Kuzmanovic, Daniel Pablo Osvaldo and Martin Jorgensen also had shots in the first half, while Osvaldo nodded over after the restart.

Pazzini finally opened the scoring just after the hour mark and, following Cristiano Lupatelli’s decisive save on Pippo Maniero and a scare with Federico Balzaretti’s error, Pazzini pounced on a long ball forward to ensure the result was safe.

The match was also notable as former Piacenza striker Daniele Cacia made his debut in the Viola jersey, while Bremec kept the scoreline down with another save on Jorgensen.

Fiorentina will face the winners of Lazio-Napoli in the quarter-finals.

Fiorentina 2-0 Ascoli (3-1 on agg)
Scorers: Pazzini 63, 76 (F)
Fiorentina: Lupatelli; Balzaretti, Potenza, Mazuch (Ujfalusi 74), Gobbi; Kuzmanovic, Pazienza (Pasqual 79), Jorgensen; Semioli, Pazzini, Osvaldo (Cacia 64)
Ascoli: Bremec; Minieri (Siniscalchi 71), Bellusci, Cioffi, Giallombardo; Guberti, Raffaello (Luci 51), Di Donato, Pesce; Perrulli (Job 62), Maniero
Ref: Lops

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