Inter beats Roma 1-0 for Italian Cup title

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-06 09:50

ROME - Inter Milan won the Italian Cup on Wednesday by beating AS Roma 1-0, boosting its chances of becoming the first Italian club to win a treble.

Inter beats Roma 1-0 for Italian Cup title

Inter Milan Javier Zanetti (L) holds the trophy and celebrates with his team mate Ivan Ramiro Cordoba after winning the Italian Cup final soccer match against AS Roma at the Olympic stadium in Rome May 5, 2010. [Agencies]

Diego Milito scored in the 40th minute at Stadio Olimpico, carrying the ball past three defenders before hitting a powerful shot.

"We've won the first," Milito said. "Now we're waiting for the other two. This victory will give us even more motivation for the league against Chievo (this weekend)."

Milito also scored once and set up two goals in Inter's 3-1 win over Barcelona in the opening leg of the Champions League semifinals.

Inter faces Bayern Munich for the Champions League title on May 22 in Madrid and holds a two-point lead over Roma with two games remaining in Serie A.

It's Inter's sixth Italian Cup title and first since 2006 after losing two finals to Roma.

The victory may have come at a price, with Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder and defender Ivan Cordoba both injured during the game.

Roma finished with 10 men after captain Francesco Totti received a red card for kicking 19-year-old Inter forward Mario Balotelli in the calf from behind two minutes from the end.

"We played with aggressiveness and intensity for 90 minutes," Inter manager Jose Mourinho said. "We scored and then we controlled the game and Roma lost their heads."

Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said Totti's foul came "out of frustration."

"We weren't able to play like we know how," Ranieri added.

There were worries before the match about fan violence, with Roma supporters still seething over Inter's 2-0 win over Lazio in Serie A on Sunday. Lazio was widely perceived to have allowed Inter to win, therefore denting city rival Roma's chances of winning Serie A.

But security was heightened and the tension was mostly contained to ironic banners held up by Roma supporters aimed at Lazio, although a fan was able to run on the field at the final whistle.

Inter began with its usual attack of Sneijder directing Samuel Eto'o and Milito; while Roma started with Totti on the bench in favor of Luca Toni and Mirko Vucinic.

Marco Materazzi stood in for injured Lucio in central defense for Inter

In the opening minute, Sneijder injured his right thigh during a collision with Roma defender Nicolas Burdisso and was replaced by Balotelli. Fans booed at the entrance of Balotelli, who is of Ghanian descent and often the subject of racism.

Milito had a goal disallowed for offside in the 17th, angering Mourinho, who went over to check a pitch-side monitor for the replay but an official wouldn't let him look.