Bologna's Santiago Castro scored two minutes after coming on to secure a late 1-0 win at Atalanta on Tuesday, sending them into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years.

Bologna, who haven't won the competition since 1974, will face the winner of the 26 February quarter-final between Juventus and Empoli in the semis.

Atalanta, playing at home, got off to a solid start, with Charles De Ketelaere taking a shot early on, but Bologna's goalkeeper, Lukasz Skorupski, managed to push it out for a corner.

De Ketelaere then found Éderson with a cross from the left just before the half-hour mark, but the Brazilian's shot was deflected by defender Charalampos Lykogiannis.

Bologna almost took the lead just before the break when Dan Ndoye ran in from the right to set up Tommaso Pobega, but the AC Milan loanee's shot deflected off Ederson and went through to keeper Rui Patrício.

Skorupski made a great save in the 51st minute, stopping Atalanta from taking the lead with a quick reaction save on Raoul Bellanova.

Patricio also made an excellent save just after the hour, when Thijs Dallinga found Pobega in the box. Pobega went for an angled shot, but the Portuguese keeper dived to get a touch on it and avert the danger.

Then Castro replaced Dallinga, and Lykogiannis delivered a perfect free kick into the box for Argentine striker Castro, who fired home with his first touch of the match in the 80th minute, sending the away fans into a frenzy.

"All this is for the family, I miss them a lot," Castro said.

"I'm happy to have helped the team with the goal ... the Champions League served to improve, we came back to play even stronger in Italy."

Atalanta, who are third in Serie A, pushed for an equaliser but the Bologna defence held firm to see out the game.