Hellas Verona recorded a 1-0 victory over 10-man Perugia in their Coppa Italia clash to progress to the next round of the competition.
The home side took the lead in the 16th minute when they were awarded a penalty. Javier Saviola took the spot kick and fired a low effort into the bottom corner past Jan Koprivec.
Both sides struggled to carve out any clear-cut opportunities in the remainder of the first half, as they were both resilient at the back.
In the second half, the visitors were dealt a major blow when they were reduced to 10 men as Guillermo Giacomazzi was sent off for picking up his second bookable offence.
However, the visitors tried their utmost to get back in the game despite their numerical disadvantage as they fired Francesco Benussi with three efforts late in the match, but the keeper was equal to their attempts.
Verona held out for the victory to reach the fifth round of the tournament where they will face Juventus on January 14 in Turin.
Simon Sinclair
