Italian Cup: Fiorentina Put Two Goals Past Newbie Cremonese In First Leg

Fiorentina put themselves in a strong position to reach the Italian Cup final after a 2-0 win over Cremonese in the first leg of their semi-final tie on Wednesday.

Arthur Cabral's header in the 20th minute gave Fiorentina the lead, while Nicolas Gonzalez's penalty with 15 minutes remaining put them in a commanding position for the return leg.

Despite knocking out Napoli and Roma in earlier rounds, Cremonese looks set to exit the competition after the loss. The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the final minutes after Emanuel Aiwu was sent off for handling Cabral's shot and conceding the penalty from which Gonzalez scored.

Fiorentina has won nine straight matches in all competitions and will face either Inter Milan or Juventus in the final if they complete the job in Florence later this month. The Florence-based club has not won a major trophy since the 2001 Italian Cup.

In the other semi-final clash, Inter Milan secured a 1-1 draw against Juventus in the first leg on Tuesday, with Romelu Lukaku scoring a stoppage-time penalty. However, the Belgian striker was subjected to racial abuse from a section of Juventus supporters during the spot-kick.