Del Piero puts Juve through

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TURIN, Italy -- A stunning strike by veteran Alessandro Del Piero helped Juventus to a 3-0 win over 10-man Roma on Tuesday which put the Serie A leader into the Italian Cup semifinals.

Juventus took an early lead through Emanuele Giaccherini before Del Piero doubled his side's advantage in the 30th minute with a perfect curling effort.

It was the 37-year-old's veteran's first goal for Juventus this season and the popular forward was resoundingly applauded when he went off 13 minutes from time, with coach Antonio Conte also joining in the lengthy standing ovation.

Any chance Roma had of getting back into the match all but evaporated when Erik Lamela was sent off in the 69th for kicking Giorgio Chiellini.

Roma's miserable night was complete when defender Simon Kjaer fired into his own net in the final minute.

Juve, which is unbeaten this campaign, will meet AC Milan or Lazio in the next round.

Juventus got off to the perfect start when it took the lead with less than six minutes on the clock. Andrea Barzagli split the Roma defence with a through ball to an unmarked Giaccherini, who raced into the area before firing it past the onrushing goalkeeper and into the far right corner.

Roma had a rare sight of goal in the 29th minute but stand-in Juventus goalkeeper Marco Storari rushed out swiftly to comfortably block Miralem Pjanic's effort.

Another mistake in the Roma defence almost gifted Juventus a second goal as Marco Borriello -- who arrived on loan from the capital side at the beginning of the month -- stole the ball off a former teammate in the six-yard box, but his pace carried him past the dead ball line before he could strike.

Juve did double its lead on the half hour mark when Del Piero curled a fantastic shot into the top right corner. Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg could only watch as it sailed in under the crossbar.

It should have extended its advantage six minutes from halftime. Luca Marrone picked out Marcelo Estigarribia on the left flank, he raced into the box and had plenty of time to pick his spot but fired into the side netting.

Roma was a better side after the break and carved out several decent opportunities. Lamela's header went narrowly wide of the right upright shortly after the restart.

Fabio Borini also headed wide as Roma tried to get back into the game. However, Lamela was then sent off for kicking Chiellini between the legs in an off-the-ball incident.

Fabio Quagliarella should have grabbed the third goal seconds after coming on for Del Piero but he saw his close-range effort crash back off the crossbar after being set up perfectly by Alessandro Matri.

Matri also went close seconds later but Kjaer cleared the ball off the line.

The Roma defender swiftly went from hero to villain. Quagliarella crossed the ball into the area towards Matri and Kjaer slid in but could only fire the ball in off the grasping arms of Stekelenburg.