Two goals in either half from Reginaldo and Gaetano D'Agostino gave Siena a 2-1 first leg lead in their Coppa Italia semi-final against Napoli.
A late Emanuele Pesoli own goal gave Napoli some hope, but the two earlier break-away goals from Giuseppe Sannino's side were enough to give them a one-goal lead going into next month's second leg in Naples.
With Siena playing in their first ever Coppa Italia semi-final and without a number of key players, it was no surprise that they started rather tentatively; Reginaldo fluffing a number of passes in the final third within the first few minutes.
Goran Pandev had a fine effort saved midway through the half, but on 42 minutes Reginaldo opened the scoring quite unexpectedly for Sannino's side.
The Brazilian racing through onto a terrific pass from Daniele Mannini, cheekily flicking the ball over on-rushing goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis, and slotting easily into an empty net to make it 1-0 to the hosts' at half time.
The teams returned for the second half, and with Napoli a goal behind it was Cavani who had the best chance of the opening exchanges.
A cross from Hamsik on the left-hand side of the area found the former Palermo man unmarked on the penalty spot, but his header was straight at Gianluca Pegolo, and the 'keeper managed to gather the ball with ease.
Two quick-fire efforts from Mannini forced De Sanctis into a pair of impressive saves, but it was at the other end where the next goal was looking most likely to come from.
A low cross from the left by Juan Zuniga found the substitute Ezequiel Lavezzi on the edge of the area, and the Argentinian forward fired in a first time effort that flew just inches wide of the right-hand post.
Walter Mazzarri's side came to regret those missed chances though on 65 minutes.
A wonderful counter-attacking move culminated in Andrea Rossi laying the ball across goal for D'Agostino to tap in from six yards.
Napoli would not give up though, and scored a vital away goal when Siena defender Emanuele Pesoli deflected Ezequiel Lavezzi's cross into his own net.
|
Reginaldo 42'
|
1 - 0 |
|
|
G. D'Agostino 66'
|
2 - 0 |
|
2 - 1 |
86' E. Pesoli (OG)
|
| Player | Bookings |
|---|---|
| S. Farelli | |
| M. Contini | |
| A. Rossi |
 87'
|
| N. Belmonte | |
| E. Pesoli |
 86'
|
| G. D'Agostino |
 66'
|
| A. Gazzi | |
D. Mannini
|
19'
|
| Ângelo | |
|
Reginaldo
|
42'
|
|
E. Bogdani
|
|
| Coach: G. Sannino | |
| Player | Bookings |
|---|---|
| M. De Sanctis | |
|
S. Aronica
|
|
| C. Zúñiga | |
| P. Cannavaro | |
| H. Campagnaro |
23'
|
|
B. Džemaili
|
|
| C. Maggio | |
| W. Gargano | |
| M. Hamšík | |
|
G. Pandev
|
18'
|
| E. Cavani | |
| Coach: W. Mazzarri | |
| Player | Bookings |
|---|---|
|
for E. Bogdani 51' |
|
|
for D. Mannini 62' |
|
|
for Reginaldo 70' |
|
| Player | Bookings |
|---|---|
|
for S. Aronica 57' |
|
|
for G. Pandev 71' |
|
|
for B. Džemaili 74' |
|
