(Football news) AC Milan continued their excellent form this year after they hammered Lazio to a 4-0 defeat as they reached the Coppa Italia semi final where they will face Inter Milan. AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud scored his second brace in five days in a 4-0 win over Lazio on Wednesday. Rafael Leao scored first for Milan, before Giroud struck from close range twice in the space of five minutes at the end of the first half to comfortably win their tie. 

Giroud has been in the form of his life as it has been a great week for the France international who not only scored twice in three second-half minutes to complete a 2-1 comeback victory in the Milan derby but also continued that great form and scored two more goals against Lazio. Things got bad to worse for Lazio when their talisman and top scorer Ciro Immobile went off injured after the break and Milan piled on their misery when Franck Kessie fired home a late fourth goal. The Rossoneri will face Inter who knocked out AS Roma as it is going to be a two-legged semifinal on March 2 and April 20. In the other semifinals, Fiorentina will host Atalanta and Juventus will face Sassuolo in the remaining quarter finals .

Milan went ahead with the first major chance they had in the game after 24 minutes, when Alessio Romagnoli played a smart through ball into Rafael Leao's path who smartly guided a shot past Pepe Reina. The game came to life in the final five minutes of the first half when Giroud repeated his heroics of a few days earlier as Leao skipped into the box and teed up the 35-year-old for a simple tap-in and five minutes later it was Theo Hernandez whose low cross found Giroud at the back post for another simple finish for his fourth goal in 3 days. Immobile's injury was a major blow to Lazio, as Serie A's top scorer limped off after twisting his ankle. Maurizio Sarri's side were again sloppy at the back as Milan scored their fourth with 11 minutes remaining, after they failed to clear their lines from a set piece and Kessie drilled home

"Derbies are always very particular matches to prepare for, but they are very motivating. Both teams will want to win it, we will give everything against a very strong team. We took advantage of the derby win by gaining energy, trust and conviction. We deserved the win because the team was focused for 90 minutes," Milan coach Stefano Pioli said.

Also read: Inter see off Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma in the Coppa Italia quarter finals