Thaindian News

Rome, Jan 29 (DPA) Mario Balotelli sealed Inter Milan’s 2-1 rally over Juventus to give the Serie A leaders a spot in the Italian Cup semi-finals.
The usual, frustrating amount of imprecise passes characterised the game of Juve, who still managed to close the first half one goal up.

Francesco Toldo, a reserve playing only cup games, had his say when Juve took the lead on 10 minutes as he let a low shot from Brazilian Diego roll between his arms and legs.

Gianluigi Buffon, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on the pitch, cut a better figure one minute later, deflecting a firm shot from Balotelli and was well positioned on 20 minutes on a drive that Douglas Maicon fired from a tight angle.

The international goalkeeper had no problems when Balotelli fired feebly as he finished off a counter attack, while defender Fabio Grosso allayed Juve’s sufferance firing a drive well saved by Toldo.

Inter began a hammering pressing in the second half, but ran a risk on 55 minutes when Toldo seemed beaten as a Giorgio Chiellini header grazed the post off a corner kick action.

On 70 minutes, Balotelli fired a dangerous but central drive and one minute later was floored for a free kick that allowed Brazil defender Lucio to level after the wall deflected Wesley Sneijder’s swerving shot.

More trouble for Buffon came when another free kick from Dutchman Sneijder grazed the wall, but stood no chance when he managed to slap a drive from Thiago Motta but not Balotelli’s tap-in.

In the two-leg semi-finals set for Feb 3 and 10, Inter are to tackle Fiorentina, who qualified last week through a 3-2 win over trophy holders Lazio.

Roma and Udinese play the other semi-final after eliminating Catania and AC Milan with 1-0 wins, respectively.