AC Milan also qualified on Wednesday by beating visiting SPAL 3-0 and Juventus won 4-0 at home to Udinese with a Paulo Dybala brace.

La Viola's Patrick Cutrone turned in a low pass as he made his debut since arriving on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers last week and Atalanta's Josip Ilicic went on after the break to score in similar fashion against his former team.

Ilicic levelled after the Bergamo visitors saw Mario Pasalic's header and Robin Gosens' flick come off the bar.

Home captain German Pezzella was dismissed with 20 minutes left but Pol Lirola drilled in a tight-angle winner in the 84th.

Milan fans cheered for Krzysztof Piatek's clinical opener and saw the Pole set up Samuel Castillejo for a classy swerving shot before the break. Defender Theo Hernandez drilled in the Devils' third.

"The Italian Cup is an important trophy, all the teams want to win it, and we are after it too," Milan coach Stefano Pioli said, as the Devils sit 10 points off the Champions League places in the Serie A.

They are four behind the Europa League zone, which can be accessed by winning the cup.

Juve opened with Gonzalo Higuain's sure-fire shot off Dybala, who converted a penalty and curled a drive under the bar before Douglas Costa's spot kick in the 61st.

"It was an important game for us, as Juve must play all games with determination," Higuain said.

"The club wants this and we did what had to do.

"It is a pleasure to play with great footballers like Dybala. We did not leave many chances to the opponents and now we look ahead to the weekend's (Serie A) game against Parma."

Juventus next Wednesday will face the winners between Parma and Roma, who complete the last 16 on Thursday.

On Tuesday, holders Lazio beat Cremonese 4-0 to set up a quarter-final against Napoli, who won 2-0 against Perugia, next Tuesday.

Inter qualified with a 4-1 defeat of Cagliari and will meet Fiorentina on January 29.

Torino ousted Genoa on penalties last Thursday and will play Milan on January 28.

Australian Associated Press