Inter 2-1 Torino: Bonny and Diouf send Chivu´s men into Coppa Italia semi-finals

Inter advanced to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory over Torino in the last eight, with Ange-Yoan Bonny and Andy Diouf on target either side of half-time.

Wednesday’s quarter-final was played on neutral turf in Monza, due to San Siro being used for the opening ceremony at the Winter Olympic Games, but Inter looked comfortable in their new surroundings.

After Carlos Augusto smashed the woodwork early on, Inter went ahead in the 35th minute. Issiaka Kamate did well on the right flank before crossing for fellow Frenchman Bonny, who glanced a header into the bottom-left corner.

Sandro Kulenovic spurned a chance to level before half-time, and the Nerazzurri struck again 117 seconds into the second half, with Diouf prodding in from Marcus Thuram’s centre.

Kulenovic atoned for his earlier miss with a close-range header to make it 2-1, after Marcus Pedersen’s cross deflected into his path off Augusto, and Torino pushed hard for a leveller.

They thought they had one in the 74th minute, only for the offside flag to go up against Matteo Prati, who also saw a long-range curler clip the upright in the final minute as the visitors bowed out of the competition.

Data Debrief: Inter share the load

Cristian Chivu opted to keep Lautaro Martinez on the bench for the first 56 minutes of this game, but without their attacking talisman, Inter found a way to share the goals out.

Thanks to Diouf’s goal, the Nerazzurri are the team from Europe’s top five leagues with the most different players that have scored at least three goals in all competitions this season (nine).

Inter have now reached the Coppa Italia semi-finals 19 times in the last 30 seasons, and Napoli or Como await them in the last four. No other team has reached that stage as often in the last 30 years.

Their victory was not entirely convincing, though, as Torino out-shot the hosts by 11 to 10 and edged the expected goals (xG) battle by 1.44 to 1.26.