Gonzalo Higuain hits brace as Juventus edge past Napoli

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:45 am

Gonzalo Higuain silenced the Napoli fans with two goals as Juventus reached their third successive Coppa Italia final.

Marek Hamsik, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Inisgne gave Napoli a 3-2 win in the return leg of their semifinal, but Juve progressed 5-4 on aggregate and will face Lazio in the final.

Higuain's every touch was greeted with whistles and jeers by the home fans, as they were in Sunday's 1-1 draw in Serie A between the two sides.

The Argentina forward is now despised by Napoli fans following his move to Juve for €90 million after scoring 36 goals last season to break a 66-year-old Serie A record.

Higuain was largely anonymous on Sunday. But with his team leading 3-1 after the first leg, he fired Juventus into the lead on the night with a precise shot into the bottom left corner from outside the box in the 32nd minute.

Moments earlier, Tomas Rincon had blasted over the bar unmarked, failing to take advantage of a woeful backpass by Napoli defender Vlad Chiriches.

Gonzalo Higuain celebrates his second goal at Napoli.
Gonzalo Higuain celebrates his second goal at Napoli.
Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images

Napoli had their chances and levelled in the 53rd minute. Insigne found Arkadiusz Milik in the area and a rebound fell to Hamsik, who curled the ball into the right side of the net.

However, Higuain restored Juve's lead five minutes later after he was left unmarked to smash Juan Cuadrado's cross into the back of the net from the centre of the area.

Milik was replaced by Mertens on the hour and the Belgium international scored after just 11 seconds following a horrible mistake by Juventus reserve goalkeeper Neto, who failed to control a throw-in.

And Napoli took the lead for the first time in the match in the 67th minute when Jose Callejon dribbled into the right side of the area and pulled the ball back for Insigne to slot into the bottom right corner.

Neto almost gifted Napoli another goal 10 minutes later as he slipped when he attempted to clear the ball and it came off Napoli forward Leonardo Pavoletti but it rolled wide.

Napoli couldn't find any more goals, and Juve progress to the final.