Roma made huge strides towards an eighth Coppa Italia success as they beat Serie A champions Inter 6-2 in the first leg of the final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.Inter won the last two editions of the Coppa Italia, beating the capital side in both finals, but this time around the Giallorossi took the lead with just a minute gone as captain Francesco Totti controlled Rodrigo Taddei's low pass from the right before turning in the penalty area and firing past Francesco Toldo. Four minutes later the Giallorossi scored again as Philippe Mexes met a corner from the left with a first-time volley which Daniele De Rossi deflected in from close range.
Roma continued to play a superb passing game and Simone Perrotta made it three on 16 minutes beating Toldo with the inside of his right foot after Cristian Chivu had picked him out from the left. Four minutes later, Hernan Crespo intercepted a bad back-pass from David Pizarro and dribbled past Doni to reduce the arrears.
Roma, however, continued to press forward and Mancini scored the fourth with a right-foot shot on the half-hour after Toldo punched Christian Panucci pass into his path. Panucci scored himself ten minutes after the restart when he headed in Pizarro's corner before Crespo scored his second a minute later rising to connect with Maicon's cross. On a memorable day for Roma fans Panucci scored again a minute from time after Toldo parried a long-range free-kick from Totti into his path.
The reverse in Rome brought to an end the Nerazzurri's 28-match unbeaten run in the cup.
But Inter are no strangers to comebacks after they came back from three goals down to beat Roma 4-3 in the Super Cup last August, and Roberto Mancini will be looking to lead his team to a third consecutive triumph - and his eleventh personal success in the competition - in next Thursday's return at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan.
[Match Reaction]
No comments:
Post a Comment