Inter into Coppa Italia final

By Lorenzo Amuso

FC Internazionale Milano remained in contention for their first domestic silverware since 1989 after two goals from Christian Vieri helped the side to a 3-1 win against Cagliari Calcio in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.

Inter dominance
Coming into the match with the tie finely balanced following a 1-1 draw in last week's first leg, Vieri soon calmed the home side's nerves with a 24th-minute opener after good work from Obafemi Martins. The strike invigorated Inter and in a dominant first-half, Juan Sebastián Verón, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Georgios Karagounis were all denied by the excellent Gennaro Iezzo.

Martins' seals win
Preferred to Adriano in the starting lineup, Vieri further vindicated Roberto Mancini's decision with his second of the evening just before the hour mark. But Diego Lopez reduced the deficit with a header five minutes later and the game remained in the balance until Martins' added-time goal sealed a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Final fixtures
Five-time winners Inter will now face the winners of Thursday's second semi-final between Udinese Calcio and AS Roma in the two-legged final on 12 and 15 June 2.