Inter Milan kept alive their dreams of landing a historic treble after beat Fiorentina 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate to advance to the Coppa Italia final. There Inter will meet the meet the winner of the other semi between Roma and Udinese, with Roma carrying a 2-0 lead to next week’s second leg.
Samuel Eto’o was the hero for Inter as his second half goal was the difference in the game.
“We played the match we had to play. It was perfect,” Inter assistant coach Daniele Bernazzani told Rai television. It’s a delicate moment because fortunately we have everything to play for. I’d pay to be in this situation at this stage every year, in the running in all the competitions.”
Mourinho had taken the rare step of leaving several first-choice players out of his starting XI ahead of Friday’s Serie A clash with Juventus and next week’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona.
This was the second meeting between the two clubs in four days after Saturday’s 2-2 Serie A draw, and Fiorentina had the best chances in the first half but could not get past Inter’s Julio Cesar.
Fiorentina we made to rue their missed chances when in the 57th minute. Eto’o controlled Thiago Motta’s perfectly-weighted through ball with his right foot and beat Frey with his left. Eto’o goal left Fiorentina needing three goals to advance and that was not going to happen.
