Coppa Italia Thursday Review

Roma moved a step closer to a place in the Coppa Italia final with a 2-0 win over Udinese on Thursday.

Claudio Ranieri welcomed captain Francesco Totti back from injury for the semi-final first leg, and his return appeared to inspire the hosts with Mirko Vucinic scoring the opener after 12 minutes.

Philippe Mexes added another five minutes before the interval with Udinese unable to find a route back into the match.

In yesterday's semi-final, Inter Milan claimed a narrow advantage to take into the second leg against Fiorentina as Diego Milito's goal proved the difference in a 1-0 win at the San Siro.

Inter 2-1 Juventus

Inter Milan turned up the heat on Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara by coming from behind to triumph 2-1 in the Coppa Italia quarter-final.

Diego's 10th-minute strike looked to have set the Bianconeri on their way to a much-needed victory at the San Siro.

But Lucio levelled after 72 minutes and Mario Balotelli grabbed a last-gasp winner for Inter to secure a two-legged last-four date with Fiorentina next month.

Ferrara's side headed into this encounter on the back of five defeats in six Serie A games and lying in sixth position in the standings - 16 points adrift of league leaders Inter.

Despite their poor recent run, the visitors started well and broke the deadlock after just 10 minutes. Diego cut inside Esteban Cambiasso and lashed a low shot through the legs of Inter goalkeeper Francesco, who should have done better.

Jose Mourinho's team had a fine chance to get back on level terms 10 minutes later but Maicon fired over from a tight angle after a neat one-two with Goran Pandev.

The influential Wesley Sneijder then nicked possession and instigated an attack which resulted in an opportunity for Balotelli, but he could only shoot straight at Gianluigi Buffon from 18 yards.

Toldo, making only his second appearance of the season between the posts, went some way to making amends for his early error eight minutes before the break by getting down well to keep out a fierce shot from Fabio Grosso eight minutes before half-time.

The hosts had an appeal for a penalty turned down in the 44th minute when Thiago Motta's cross looked to be handled by Felipe Melo, but referee Antonio Damato was not convinced.

Juve went within a whisker of doubling their advantage 10 minutes into the second period, Giorgio Chiellini skimming the outside of Toldo's left-hand post with a far-post header from Diego's cross.

And the Old Lady were soon made to pay for that near miss when parity was restored 18 minutes from time.

Buffon was left wrong-footed when Sneijder's free-kick took a wicked deflection, and Lucio nipped in at the far post to prod home the equaliser.

The Juve stopper kept his side on level terms after 84 minutes by parrying another Sneijder free-kick, but was powerless to prevent Inter's winner at the death.

Buffon did keep out Thiago Motta's initial effort but Balotelli was on hand to capitalise from the rebound.

Coppa Italia Wednesday Review

Gokhan Inler's lone strike was enough to fire Udinese past AC Milan and into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Inler struck in the 56th minute to hand Udinese their first away road win of the season and set up an encounter with Roma in the final four next month.

Milan coach Leonardo made wholesale changes to the team that lost 2-0 at Inter Milan on Sunday, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar paired alongside Filippo Inzaghi in attack.

But both strikers failed to test Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic on the night as the visitors ran out comfortable winners.

Udinese dominated the encounter at the San Siro and were unlucky not to take a 25th-minute lead when Alexis Sanchez struck the post with a right-footed strike from the edge of the area.

The hosts had their first chance in the 28th minute with Marek Jankulovski's 30-yard strike forcing Handanovic to clear.

Handanovic was called on again shortly afterwards to save Mathieu Flamini's long-range effort.

Udinese almost took the lead on the half-hour mark but Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati did well to palm over Antonio Di Natale's right-footed strike.

Sanchez should have broken the deadlock before half-time but he failed to beat Abbiati in a one-on-one.

After the restart, Udinese picked up where they left off and their efforts were soon rewarded.

Sanchez stole the ball from Luca Antonini and played in Inler, whose powerful right-footed strike from the edge of the area beat Abbiati.

Marco Borriello replaced Huntelaar on the hour mark but the Rossoneri struggled to break down Udinese's defence.

In the 66th minute, Gianluca Zambrotta almost struck the equaliser, the Italy international surging towards the area but skewing his left-footed strike went wide.

With 15 minutes remaining, Floro Flores should have killed the game off but his lob went over the bar.

Udinese held on for a deserved victory as Milan bowed out of a competition they have not won since the 2002-03 campaign.

"It's disappointing," said Leonardo. "We wanted to go far in the competition, but we should have given more rhythm to our play and we didn't do that.

"We lacked the right movements in attack and we weren't dangerous. The only positive aspect was the performance of Abbiati tonight on his return from injury."

Coppa Italia Wednesday Review

Fiorentina survived a late scare to seal a place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals thanks to a 3-2 victory over Lazio.

Adrian Mutu, who has been linked with a return to the Premier League with Roberto Mancini's Manchester City, set La Viola on their way with a first-half brace.

It took the former Chelsea striker just nine minutes to open the scoring and he doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time.

Lazio looked to stage a comeback and Mauro Zarate reduced the deficit five minutes after the break.

However, Per Kroldrup restored Fiorentina's two-goal advantage nine minutes later.

Tommaso Rocchi pulled another one back for Lazio in the 69th minute but the Biancocelesti could not complete their fightback.

Fiorentina will meet either Inter Milan or Juventus in the two-legged semi-final with the pair set to clash at the San Siro on January 28.

Coppa Italia Wednesday Review

Wesley Sneijder's second-half free-kick saw Inter Milan edge Livorno to reach the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

The Italian champions twice struck the woodwork in the first half before the Holland international notched the game's only goal 16 minutes after the restart.

Inter coach Jose Mourinho, himself under the spotlight after a weekend bust-up with a journalist after the 1-1 draw with Atalanta, made a string of changes to his line-up with goalkeeper Francesco Toldo handed a first start of the season and Giulio Donati given a senior debut at right-back.

The Nerazzurri almost forged ahead in the third minute when Dejan Stankovic unleashed a fierce 20-yard shot but was denied by the post.

The woodwork again came to Livorno's rescue half an hour later as Sneijder curled a free-kick against the upright.

The deadlock was broken just after the hour when Inter were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Livorno box after Nelson Rivas, on loan with Livorno from Inter, had denied Mario Balotelli a goalscoring opportunity by handling the ball.

Sneijder stepped up with a trademark curling free-kick, which proved to be the difference between the teams as Inter booked their place in the last eight.