Inter defeat Palermo to retain Coppa Italia

FC Internazionale Milano defeated ten-man US Città di Palermo 3-1 to retain the Coppa Italia in Rome and give Leonardo his first trophy as coach.

Samuel Eto'o scored similar goals in each half of the Stadio Olimpico encounter and although Ezequiel Muñoz reduced arrears late on, he was to be sent off before Diego Milito's clincher. Inter's seventh Coppa Italia is a consolation after a season in which they lost both their Serie A and UEFA Champions League titles.

Palermo started the game in attacking mode, with Abel Hernández coming close to scoring when he hit the side netting. After 20 minutes Júlio César was forced to rush out to save at Javier Pastore's feet following a clever one-two with Josip Iličič.

The Sicilian club continued to dominate but it was Inter who took the lead after 26 minutes when Wesley Sneijder's defence-splitting pass sent Eto'o through in a one-on-one with Salvatore Sirigu and the Cameroon striker found the far corner with a precise, low shot.

The goal did not change the flow of the game, with Palermo continuing to attack: Júlio César was forced into a wonderful save to stop Hernández's shot, which had taken a deflection off Cristian Chivu, and denied the same player two minutes before the interval.

On the hour, Júlio César produced another save from Fabrizio Miccoli's close-range header and soon after Chivu's timely tackle stopped Hernández's goal-bound shot following another brilliant pass by Pastore. As in the first half, however, Inter scored against the run of play, with Sneijder once more the provider and Eto'o the finisher with another low shot in off the far post.

In what was a frantic finale, Muñoz halved the deficit by heading in Miccoli's corner but was sent off a minute later for a foul on Goran Pandev, who then crossed from the left for Milito to make it 3-1.

Eto'o said: "I'm glad because you play football to win trophies and the 2010/11 season would have been less sweet if we had ended it without one. It was a fantastic game and we are glad the fans of both sides enjoyed it. They come here to watch good matches and I think we gave them just that tonight."