Roma out of Italian Cup after 2-0 loss to Fiorentina

ROME (AP) — Roma's miserable year continued as it lost 2-0 at home to Fiorentina and was eliminated from the Italian Cup quarterfinals amid the boos of its own fans on Tuesday.

Mario Gomez scored twice for Fiorentina, which lost last year's final to Napoli at Roma's Stadio Olimpico and now faces a semifinal against Juventus.

"Reaching the semifinal was a very important goal for all of us," Gomez said. "We lost here last year against Napoli and, who knows, maybe we'll be back.

"It was a very difficult period for me, I was out for a year, but I needed time to return to my best, I needed to play."

Roma was loudly booed at the end of the match and the players trudged despondently down the tunnel after being called over by the team's fans and told in no uncertain terms to give more on the pitch.

After beginning 2015 with a narrow win over Udinese, four successive draws have seen Roma fall seven points behind Serie A leader Juventus and the capital side's title hopes slip away.

Gomez, who ended an eight-month scoring drought at the end of November, broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, dinking Manuel Pasqual's cross over Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski from close range.

The two combined again in the final minute, with Gomez controlling another Pasqual cross before firing under the bar.

The Germany striker, who suffered a serious knee injury last season, has now scored four goals in two Italian Cup matches, as well as once in the two league matches between those cup games.