Roma beat Inter in Coppa Italia semis first leg

Rome, Jan 24 (IANS) Roma beat Inter 2-1 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal at home.

Roma dominated the first half Wednesday with Alessandro Florenzi opening the scoring in the 13th minute and Mattia Destro adding a second 20 minutes later, reports Xinhua.

Rodrigo Palacio pulled one back for Inter moments before half-time, putting Inter right back in the mix going into the second leg.

Roma head coach Zdenek Zeman was left to rue his side’s wasted opportunities in the first half, claiming they could have scored more goals.

“In the first half we used up a lot of energy and ran out of steam a little. We tried to score more goals, but were unable to do it. We have an advantage and will try to increase it in the second leg. We did everything right in the first half and it could’ve ended 4-0 with no complaints,” he said.

His Inter counterpart Andrea Stramaccioni insisted his side’s chance to reach the final is quite open despite the loss in the first leg.

“We must compliment Roma, who built their victory in the first half, but the qualification is wide open and we will play everything in the 90 minutes at San Siro,” he said.

The two sides will play the second leg April 17.

IANS 2013-01-24 13:10:05