Koopmeiners brace fires Atalanta past Milan into Coppa Italia semis

Teun Koopmeiners scored twice as Atalanta came back from a goal down to beat AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro in their Coppa Italia quarter-final clash on Wednesday.

Rafael Leao broke the deadlock for Milan just before halftime with an elegant first-time finish from Theo Hernandez's pass, but in a swift response, an unmarked Koopmeiners received a ball from Emil Holm near the edge of the box before guiding a low shot into the far corner.

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Koopmeiners then completed the comeback for Atalanta in the 59th minute when he converted a penalty after Alex Jimenez fouled Aleksei Miranchuk.

"We should've defended much better on the equaliser, but the truth is that the game changed with a non-existent penalty," Milan manager Stefano Pioli told Mediaset.

"After that, we lost our heads, lost our shape and our control of the game. We struggled to take back that balance and control we had in the first half.

"We could've reacted better. I do understand the frustration of the players going 2-1 down like that after doing well, but there was still plenty of time to get back into it and we didn't take those chances that we created."

Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini was sent off late in the first half after a heated conversation with the referee that persisted despite an initial warning.

Under Gasperini, Atalanta have reached the Coppa semifinals four times.

"It's true we do not have any silverware, and while the Champions League or Scudetto are not really on our level, we did reach the Coppa Italia final a few times and we do still want to go all the way eventually," Gasperini said.

The closing minutes intensified as a desperate Milan threw everything forward, but Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi stopped attempts from Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah.

In the dying seconds, Milan's hopes were raised as an alleged handball by Miranchuk inside the box underwent a VAR-check but it was dismissed.

Milan's back-up goalkeeper Antonio Mirante received a direct red card from the bench for dissent following his protest against the decision.

Atalanta will play Fiorentina in a two-legged semifinal in April following Vincenzo Italiano's side's win over Bologna on penalties on Tuesday.