Juventus are back in business after thrashing Napoli 3-0 in the Coppa Italia with Diego and an Alessandro Del Piero brace. They will face Inter in the quarter-final on January 28.
Andrea Dossena received his Napoli debut after the move from Liverpool last week, while Ciro Ferrara knew his job was on the line. Bianconeri fans left the Curva Scirea empty in protest with only a banner: 'Shame on you. Only we are worthy of these colours.'
Just seven minutes in Gennaro Iezzo made a hash of coming out for a corner and only an acrobatic Cigarini goalline clearance prevented Amauri's header from breaking the deadlock. Del Piero did put the ball in the net, but was clearly offside by that stage.
Del Piero has barely featured this season, but curled a free kick inches wide of the near post.
Napoli were furious when Juve took the lead. Jesus Datolo went down injured after a collision with Felipe Melo, but the referee allowed play to go on and eventually Diego fired in from the edge of the box following Juan Zuniga's error.
Ferrara was on the sidelines with his arm raised, urging his players to put the ball out of play, but they did not notice him. It should also be noted that Datolo got back up without treatment.
The tension got to Contini, who was caught on camera apparently stamping on the back of Del Piero's head when he was on the ground. Contini had just been booked for dissent, so even a yellow would've seen him sent off, and could well be punished with the use of video evidence.
Del Piero really should've scored a second on 31 minutes, but practically passed the ball to Iezzo from nine yards after a defensive error left him clear on goal.
Napoli started the second half stronger, but Hoffer just failed to get on the end of a German Denis cross at the back post.
Cigarini wanted a penalty when his cross hit Felipe Melo's arm and on the counter Paolo De Ceglie fired straight at Iezzo when he perhaps should've rolled across for Del Piero.
Diego had never scored in Turin before, but almost made it 2-0 when he thumped the upright from the edge of the box despite slipping on the turf as he pulled the trigger.
Cristian Maggio failed to make the most of a Nicola Legrottaglie howler on the edge of his box, as the winger tried to go for goal himself rather than pass it to his teammates.
On 71 minutes a Marek Hamsik missile cracked off the crossbar with Alex Manninger simply unable to get there. It was a splendid strike from the Slovak that swerved wickedly in the air.
Hugo Campagnaro needed a crucial sliding tackle to block off Felipe Melo mid-shot after Diego's through ball had sent him clear. Walter Mazzarri went for it with striker Fabio Quagliarella on for Campagnaro.
However, less than 30 seconds later Juve had doubled their lead with Del Piero's first goal of the season. Maggio was still adjusting to the new tactics and was caught out of position, allowing the Juventus captain to sweep in at the back post from De Ceglie's pass.
Napoli fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 here in Serie A earlier this season. Quagliarella flashed a shot past the upright, but they were inevitably caught on the counter.
Contini blatantly brought down Diego after a splendid through ball from Del Piero and was sent off. Del Piero stepped up and buried the penalty under the bar for his second. 'Alex' was granted a standing ovation with a late substitution, but it marks the first defeat in all competition for Mazzarri on the Napoli bench.
