Inter Milan beat Lazio in the Coppa Italia last eight to set up a semi-final against city rivals AC Milan.
Marko Arnautovic’s sublime first-half volley gave Simone Inzaghi’s men the breakthrough before substitute Hakan Calhanoglu secured the victory from the penalty spot late on.
Serie A leaders Inter have a top-of-the-table match against Napoli on Saturday, so captain Lautaro Martinez and centre-back Alessandro Bastoni were only on the bench in the cup.
Inter boss Inzaghi has had to deal with injuries to Yann Sommer, Marcus Thuram and Joaquin Correa in recent weeks and his problems mounted further when Matteo Darmian was forced off with a knock after 24 minutes.
Josep Martinez, Sommer’s replacement in goal, was forced into two saves by Lazio winger Gustav Isaksen early on, but it was Inter who opened the scoring through Arnautovic six minutes before half-time.
Federico Dimarco’s corner was headed out by Lazio captain Mattia Zaccagni but only as far as the Austrian, who struck a sweet volley past Christos Mandas from 25 yards out.
Isaksen tested Martinez again early in the second half before Zaccagni fired straight at the goalkeeper from inside the box – and those misses would cost Marco Baroni’s side dearly.
Joaquin Correa drew a foul from Lazio defender Samuel Gigot inside the box and Calhanoglu sent Mandas the wrong way from 12 yards to seal the win for Inter, who will face AC Milan in the two-legged semis in April.
