The Fiorentina Women team have made it to the semi-finals of the Women’s Coppa Italia after a breathtaking final part of the match at the Curva Fiesole of the Rocco B. Commisso Viola Park: Sofie Bredgaard secured the win with a stunning effort: an individual effort that gave Pablo Pinones Arce’s team a well-deserved victory and enabled them to advance to the semis.

Fiorentina started the game with great personality and immediately sought to dictate the tempo and driving the game in the right direction. Their first chance came in the 2^nd minute, when a dangerous cross from Emilie Woldvik was flicked by Iris Omarsdottir: the trajectory made it nearly go past Laura Giuliani, who however made the save.

In the first fifteen minutes, the Viola dominated the game, forcing a cautious Milan to stay in their half and play on the counter-attack. Around the 20^th minute, however, the game started getting more intense: Milan began pushing higher up the pitch and responding with greater aggressiveness to Fiorentina’s moves.

Milan’s biggest chance came in the 26^th minute: Soo-Jeong Park was served in the box and, after a successful dribble, took a right-footed shot, but Ilse Van Der Zanden miraculously blocked it.

The final part of the first half was largely balanced, with Milan becoming dangerous once again in the 40^th minute. After a quick counter-attack, Thea Kyvag was served at the edge of the box and took her shot, but Cecilie Fiskerstrand was ready and parried it away for a corner.

The start of the second half was similar to that of the first, with the two teams going toe-to-toe. Milan were the first to make an attempt, in the 50^th minute, as they tried to replicate the goal they scored in the first leg: Giorgia Arrigoni pounced on a loose ball at the edge of the area and unleashed a powerful strike, but Fiskerstrand reacted quickly to neutralize the threat.

Fiorentina responded immediately with their substitutes: Maria Luisa Filangeri sent Agnese Bonfantini down the wing; her inch-perfect cross found Bredgaard, who was unable to get enough power behind the finish.

From the 75^th minute on, Fiorentina’s all-out assault began. The team started pressing high, determined to win in normal time. Filippa Curmark played a neat one-two with Madelen Janogy, who took a shot: just as the fans were about to celebrate, Giuliani made an amazing save. In the 84^th minute, Janogy made an attempt once again from a corner kick, but her powerful header went over the crossbar.

As it started looking like the match was going to go into extra time, Bredgaard decided to take centre stage with a moment of magic. Receiving the ball on the wing, she took matters into her own hands: a blistering burst of pace and a sharp turn left Chante Dompig in her tracks before she unleashed an unstoppable shot into the back of the net. Her goal sent the Viola fans into a frenzy, sealing a well-deserved victory for Fiorentina and firing them into the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

Fiorentina will be back at the Curva Fiesole of Rocco B. Commisso Viola Park on February 2 at 17:00 CET to face Napoli.

ACF FIORENTINA 1-0 MILAN (HT: 0-0)

Scorers: Bredgaard 92

ACF FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Fiskerstrand, Woldvik, Van Der Zanden, Faerge, Johansen (Filangeri 46), Severini, Tryggvadottir (Bonfantini 61), Cherubini (Curmark 46), Bredgaard (Orsi 94), Omarsdottir (Eiriksdottir 70), Janogy

Subs not used: Bettineschi, Cetinja, Wijnants, Tomassoni.

Coach: Pablo Pinones Arce

MILAN (4-3-3): Giuliani, Koivisto, Sanders, Soffia, Keijzer, Arrigoni, Grimshaw, Park (Cernoia 72), Van Dooren, Stokic (Renzotti 89), Kyvag (Dompig 80) 

 Coach: Suzanne Bakker

Subs not used: Mascarello, Estevez, Tornaghi, Appiah, Strauss, Donolato.