Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Inter 3-2 Como (3-2 agg): Sucic caps stunning late turnaround to seal Coppa Italia final spot

Veselin Trajkovic in Editorial 22 Apr 2026

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Petar Sucic was Inter’s hero off the bench as his 89th-minute winner sent Cristian Chivu’s side to the Coppa Italia final after a thrilling 3-2 win over Como in Tuesday’s second leg.

Como appeared set to reach their first Coppa Italia final, having raced two goals in front at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza thanks to goals from Martin Baturina and Lucas da Cunha.

However, after replacing Piotr Zielinski in the 60th minute, Sucic teed up both of Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half finishes before sparking wild scenes a minute before full-time.

Como started brightly as Alex Valle’s loose touch fell kindly to Baturina, who forced a smart stop from Josep Martinez, with the resulting corner making its way to Marc Oliver Kempf at the back post, but he could only head against the crossbar.

And the visitors deservedly led in the 32nd minute after a well-constructed move down the right saw Ignace Van der Brempt beat Federico Dimarco before crossing for Baturina to sweep home with the aid of the left post.

Tasos Douvikas then saw his headed attempt narrowly evade the far post from a corner, with Maximo Perrone then clearing Marcus Thuram’s header off the line at the other end.

But three minutes after the restart, Como doubled their lead through captain Da Cunha, who raced on to Nico Paz’s clever ball in behind before curling into the bottom-left corner.

However, Inter began their comeback when Calhanoglu fired past Jean Butez from the edge of the box, with his effort going in with the aid of a deflection from Diego Carlos.

Martinez was then on his toes to deny Assane Diao, and that save proved crucial as, four minutes from time, Sucic’s delicious cross was headed in off the post by Calhanoglu.

And the turnaround was complete three minutes later by Sucic, who combined with Calhanoglu once more, taking a touch before picking out the bottom-right corner to send the nine-time champions through, with Atalanta or Lazio awaiting in the final.

Data Debrief: Calhanoglu delivers timely treble

Inter have not reached the Coppa Italia final since they were crowned champions back in 2022-23, and they looked set for another near-miss, having fallen two goals down until the experienced Calhanoglu grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck.

And he delivered a performance for the ages here. Calhanoglu has now been involved in three goals in a single match for the first time for Inter in all competitions, while he also scored his first headed goal for the Nerazzurri.

He also finished with team-high totals for touches (124), accurate passes (90) and passes in the final third (33), but Sucic also played his part. Despite coming on in the second half, no player created more chances for Inter than the Croatian’s four.

For Como, however, it’s a story of what might have been. They edged the expected goals (xG) battle, registering a total of 1.65 from their 16 shots, seven of which were on target, compared to Inter’s 1.43 from their 22 attempts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Veselin Trajkovic


Vesko is a football writer that likes to observe the game for what it is, focusing on teams, players and their roles, formations, tactics, rather than stats. He follows the English Premier League closely, Liverpool FC in particular. His articles have been published on seven different football blogs.

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