Bologna Vs Empoli Highlights, Coppa Italia Semi-Final Second Leg: BOL 2-1 EMP (Agg. 5-1); Rossoblu Cruise Into Title Round

Greetings and a very warm welcome to everyone who has joined us for the second semi-final of the Italian Cup. We will bring to you live updates from the Bologna vs Empoli clash that will decide who meets AC Milan in the final. Watch this space.

The match will begin at 12:30am India time. The Italian Cup semi-final, second leg clash between Bologna and Empoli will be live streamed on the GXR app and website in India.

Here's how the two teams line up ahead of kick-off in Bologna:

Like in the first semi-final yesterday (between Inter and AC Milan), there is a minute's silence tonight as well, in memory of the departed Pope Francis. Play begins soon after the tribute, with Bologna attacking from left to right and Empoli from right to left in the first half.

The three-goal cushion becomes a four-goal one, as early as the seventh minute. Giovanni Fabbian head in Nikola Moro's corner kick with ease to put Bologna up 1-0 in the game, and 4-0 in the tie. The lead appears too big to overturn at this stage, and the hosts are on their way to the final barring an utterly miraculous comeback from Empoli.

Viktor Kovalenko draws Empoli level in the second leg. Solbakken's powerful shot on goal can only be palmed away by Bologna 'keeper Ravaglia, and the ball falls kindly in front of Kovalenko, who taps it in with glee in the 33rd minute. The visitors show some fight, though Bologna still have a three-goal cushion.

The scoreline stays at 1-1 at the end of the first half. Empoli have managed to stay in the game, thanks to the 33rd-minute goal by Kovalenko. But they have a long, long way to go in the tie. Scoring three more unanswered goals against Bologna in 45 minutes will not be easy by any stretch of imagination. Can the visitors do it? Find out after the break.

The teams return from the mid-game interval and both make two substitutions ahead of resumption. Martin Erlic replaces Jhon Lucumi and Benjamin Dominguez comes in for Riccardo Orsolini for Bologna. Saba Goglichidze is in for Luca Marianucci and Lorenzo Colombo for Ola Solbakken, for Empoli.

Empoli midfielder Junior Sambia brings down Lykogiannis with a rather clumsy tackle, and is handed the yellow card for it immediately for it. But VAR is checking if it merited more. It stays at yellow, and Sambia is evidently lucky for not being ejected.

We are now into the final 10 minutes of the regulation 90, and with the second leg still locked at 1-1, the tie result seems to be a foregone conclusion. It has been a fairly uneventful second half, with Bologna well aware of their advantage. Empoli looking to close out this match and bow out well from the Cup.

Thijs Dallinga gift-wraps Bologna's imminent victory in the tie with an 86th-minute goal. The Dutch forward meets Lykogiannis' cross nicely with a well-directed header that bounces into the far side of the Empoli goal. Bologna go up 2-1 in the second leg and 5-1 in the tie, with a final berth well nigh certain.

It's done. The final whistle blows and Bologna win the second leg 2-1, and the tie by a resounding 5-1 margin. Empoli go out tamely and the Rossoblu book a final meeting with AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico on May 14.