Roma beat Napoli in Italian Cup semifinal

ROME, Feb 6 (AP): Roma beat Napoli 3-2 in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal Wednesday thanks to a double from Ivory Coast forward Gervinho.

The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal.

Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinho's opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman.

But Gervinho scored the winner two minutes from time.

"In our league, ninety percent of the matches are played defensively but it's good to play like this against strong players," Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi said. "It's good to see games like this, they're an advert for football.

"It wasn't good for us mentally to concede a minute after the restart. But after they made it 2-2, we responded brilliantly.  Another good game like tonight's awaits us in Naples."