Inter into Coppa final
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ByEurosport
Published 18/05/2005 at 17:39 GMT
Christian Vieri scored twice as Inter beat Cagliari 3-1 on Wednesday to progess to the Coppa Italia final. The Italy striker grabbed a goal either side of half time to set up a 4-2 aggregate win, with Obafemi Martins adding a late third to settle the tie
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Lopez's fine headed goal - glancing home a Gianfranco Zola free-kick just after the hour - had set a few nerves jangling in the San Siro as another goal for the Sardinians would have seen them go ahead on the away goals rule.
But elimination for Inter would have been an injustice after a dominant performance from Roberto Mancini's charges.
Paired together up front with the goal-drought stricken Adriano on the bench, Vieri and Martins proved almost unplayable for the Cagliari rearguard.
Martins held the ball up before providing a delightful square ball for Vieri to open the scoring with a expertly-placed sidefoot into the top corner on 27 minutes, before Vieri did it all himself to double Inter's advantage just before the hour mark.
Even after Lopez's goal, Inter were barely ruffled, though Martins' injury-time strike owed a great deal to porous Cagliari keeper Gennaro Iezzo, who saw the Nigerian's firmly-hit shot slip under his dive.
"Inter had their chances and they took them," said Cagliari coach Daniele Arrigoni, who saw his side struggle to create clear-cut chances against a well-organised Inter defence.
But Mancini was disappointed his side had failed to settle the issue long before the final whistle.
"We did very well in the first half and we could have had more than one goal. Then we had a lapse of concentration at a free kick and we paid for it," he said.
"But I am pleased we are in the final and it will be a tough tie whoever we are up against."
In the final, Inter will face either Udinese or Roma, who play the second leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday - a game you can follow LIVE on eurosport.com from 21:00cet!
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