February 09, (THEWILL) –Â With a 2-0 win over Roma, Inter advanced to the Coppa Italia semi-finals, thanks to a fantastic goal by Alexis Sanchez.
Edin Dzeko, who is Roma’s third-highest scorer after Francesco Totti (307) and Roberto Pruzzo (138), made 260 appearances for the Giallorossi between 2015 and 2021, scoring 119 goals in all competitions.
The Bosnian international returned to haunt his former club with a superb volley from Ivan Perisic’s enticing cross, inside the first two minutes at San Siro.
Inter came close to increasing their advantage when Nicolo Barella hit the crossbar with a long-range effort, while Dzeko and Milan Skriniar both had headers saved by Rui Patricio.
At the opposite end, Samir Handanovic reacted quickly to stop Nicolo Zaniolo from scoring the visitors’ first goal.
Just before halftime, the hosts lost Alessandro Bastoni to injury. Earlier in the day, the defender, along with Inzaghi and Lautaro Martinez, faced disciplinary action for his actions following Milan’s derby defeat at the weekend.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma side threatened to equalise after the break in the return of the Portuguese to his former club. Jordan Veretout’s long-range shot was on target, and Handanovic scrambled across well to tip Sergio Oliveira’s deflected strike over the bar.
In the 68th minute, though, Inter increased their lead and finished off the tie with a rasping drive into the top left corner by Sanchez. With that Inter moved to the final four via victory over Roma for the eighth time in 12 home games in the Coppa Italia.
The Nerazzurri have now won each of their last three quarter-finals in this competition, while Roma has now lost all three. The result was enough for Simone Inzaghi’s team to win their fourth game in a row against their opponents at this stage of the campaign.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
