Eden Dzeko put Inter ahead within two minutes of kick-off before Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead in the second half to seal Inter Milan's passage into the last four of the competition.
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Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi was delighted with his team’s performance in the 2-0 win against AS Roma in the Coppa Italia quarter-final fixture at San Siro on Tuesday. The Italian tactician felt that his side “controlled the game well and deserved this semi-final”. Eden Dzeko put Inter ahead within two minutes of kick-off before Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead in the second half to seal Inter’s passage into the last four of the competition. Inter will face AC Milan or Lazio in the two-legged semi-final.
?️ | MATCH REPORT
? Nerazzurri make short work of Roma in the #CoppaItaliaFrecciarossa ?https://t.co/4TL1Mdh7eg
— Inter ??? (@Inter_en) February 8, 2022
“The lads did really well, as it was not an easy game. Roma are a quality side with an excellent squad, we controlled the game well and deserved this semi-final, knowing that we were coming off a bad setback at the weekend,” Inzaghi told Sport Mediaset.
“I congratulated the lads, because in two-and-a-half-days being able to prepare for a match like this was really impressive.”
Inter had a dream start to the match as Dzeko put them in front inside the opening two minutes. Ivan Perisic played a one-two with Sanchez before delivering a perfect cross for Dzeko from the left flank. Dzeko slotted home past Rui Patricio with a brilliant first time volley from inside the box. Meanwhile the home side lost Alessandro Bastoni on the stroke of half-time, as he fell awkwardly and badly sprained his ankle.
“We hope Bastoni doesn’t have anything serious, unfortunately you could see he fell badly. Now the medics will have the tests and we hope not to lose him for too long, as he is a very, very important player for us.”
After the break, Roma slowly started to stitch together a few passes and tried to threaten the opposition goal. Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic made a fingertip save to keep out Sergio Oliveira’s deflected effort from long-range.
However, in the 68th minute, Sanchez doubled the lead with a sensational long-ranger to seal the victory for Inter Milan. The Chilean footballer unleashed a powerful strike from 20 meters out that went past Patricio and into the top corner. It was simply unstoppable.
“We are trying to control the game, but when you are up against opponents like Roma, Milan, Napoli and Liverpool, you have to assume there are going to be moments when you are under pressure and we did well holding out in that situation tonight, as I saw few dangers.”
Perisic provided the assist for the opening goal, but his contract is up on June 30, so can Inter afford to lose him for free?
“I think Perisic is a player who since the start of the season has been playing at a very high level. Inter are top of the Serie A table and got through the Champions League group stage, reached the Coppa Italia semi-final, so I can only be happy.
“We know there are some tough games coming up, but we wanted this semi-final with all our strength and we achieved it against a strong Roma side.”
