Napoli struggle but survive Coppa Italia penalty drama

Napoli survived! Cagliari showed some nerve and courage, salvaging a 1-1 draw at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, but lacked the focus to stun the giants.

Lorenzo Lucca and Sebastiano Esposito netted in the 90 minutes, while Mattia Felici and the Angolan Zito Luvumbo (who missed the decisive penalty) on one side, and David Neres on the other wasted their attempts in the shoot-out, as Napoli advanced to the quarter-finals after exhausting ten series.

After beating Roma at Stadio Olimpico and taking the Serie A top spot - alongside AC Milan - no one expected Napoli would have such a tough job against the 15th-placed Cagliari in the Coppa Italia Round of 16.

Even though Antonio Conte mixed things up and left the captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Rasmus Hojlund, David Neres, and Scott McTominay out of the starting XI, the Neapolitans dominated the game during the opening half, taking the lead in the 28th minute over Lorenzo Lucca, who scored his first goal since September 22.

However, after the break, the visitors started chasing the leveller, while Antonio Conte's men got a bit complacent and opted to defend the advantage. That combination proved to be costly for the reigning Serie A champions, as Sebastiano Esposito exploited their poor defensive reaction and found the net in the 67th minute.

Conte then sent his most lethal firepower into the game, but it was too late, as Cagliari managed to defend and salvage the draw that meant the crowd at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona would watch a penalty shoot-out.

Napoli tighten Serie A title race with dramatic win over Roma

The first six shooters were outstanding, and then Cagliari's Mattia Felici hit the bar. However, when Napoli's match-winner against Roma, David Neres, was supposed to score the decisive penalty in the final series, the Neapolitans' child at the visitors' goal, Elia Caprile, stopped his effort, prolonging the shoot-out.

The following four series brought no difference, and then Vanja Milinkovic Savic stopped the Angolan Zito Luvumbo's effort, Alessandro Buongiorno netted, and took Napoli to the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, where they'll face the winner of the duel between Fiorentina and Como.

ITALIAN CUP - COPPA ITALIA

Round of 16

Tuesday

Juventus - Udinese 2-0 (1-0)

/David 23, Locatelli 68 pen/

Wednesday

Atalanta - Genoa 4-0 (1-0)

/Djimsiti 19, De Roon 54, Pasalic 82, Ahanor 90+1/

Napoli - Cagliari 9-8 on pen (1-1)

/Lucca 28 - Esposito Se. 67/

23.00: (1.15) Inter (7.75) Venezia (19.0)

Thursday

20.00: (1.50) Bologna (4.00) Parma (7.25)

23.00: (3.30) Lazio (3.30) Milan (2.25)

***odds are subject to change***