(Adds Mancini quotes)
TURIN, Italy, May 12 - Lazio came back from two
goals down to lift the Italian Cup for the fourth time on
Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at Juventus in the second leg to
secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.
Juventus, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, pulled a goal
back through French striker David Trezeguet in the 20th minute
and then Alessandro Del Piero brought the tie level with a goal
right after the interval.
But Lazio fought back with a header from Bernardo Corradi
and a late Stefano Fiore strike to make it 2-2.
"This crowns a super season for us," said Lazio coach
Roberto Mancini.
"The lads deserve this after all the loyalty to the club
they have shown through what has been a difficult two years with
all our well known problems," he added, referring to the club's
financial difficulties.
The match was Juve coach Marcello Lippi's last on the bench
at the Delle Alpi as he will leave the club at the end of the
season and it looked as though it might well end in triumph with
his side making a positive start.
Trezeguet rose above Giuseppe Favalli to meet an Alessandro
Birindelli cross with a superb angled header that flashed into
the bottom corner.
Juventus were well on top, particularly in midfield, with
Lazio restricted to a shot from Fabio Liverani before the break.
Just 24 seconds after the restart Del Piero put Juve 2-0 up
on the night, and level overall, with a clinical finish after
Trezeguet had put him though following a Pavel Nedved knock
down.
That opened up the prospect of extra time but Mancini
brought on Simone Inzaghi to boost his attack and the move paid
handsome dividends.
Suddenly, Lazio looked dangerous and the vital away goal
came when Corradi rose majestically to power home a header from
a Sinisa Mihajlovic corner.
The goal left Juventus needing two in the final 20 minutes
but Lazio never looked back and six minutes from the end they
made sure of lifting the Cup with Corradi heading down to Fiore
who fired home from just inside the area.
"Juve had us in trouble early on," said Mancini. "But again,
credit to the lads for not losing their heads and focusing on
the job right to the end - they deserved this triumph".