Soccer Football - Coppa Italia - Quarter Final - AC Milan v Atalanta - San Siro, Milan, Italy - January 10, 2024 Atalanta's Teun Koopmeiners scores their second goal from the penalty spot past AC Milan's Mike Maignan REUTERS/Daniele Mascolo
MILAN (Reuters) -Teun Koopmeiners scored twice as Atalanta came back from a goal down to beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock for Milan just before halftime with an elegant first-time finish from Theo Hernandez's pass, but three minutes later an unmarked Koopmeiners received a ball from Emil Holm before guiding a shot into the far corner.
Koopmeiners 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 semi-finals 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 semi-final in April following Vincenzo Italiano's side's win over Bologna on penalties on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk,Editing by Toby Davis and Ed Osmond)
