Bonny and Diouf knock out Torino: Inter returns to semifinal in Coppa Italia
Inter is back in the semifinals of the Coppa Italia. The Nerazzurri needed only a narrow victory over Torino to reach the penultimate act of the domestic cup for the second consecutive year. At Monza’U-Power Stadium in Monza, the venue since the ‘Giuseppe Meazza’ stadium is unavailable in view of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, set for Friday, Feb. 6, it ended 2-1: Bonny and Diouf gave coach Cristian Chivu the win, Kulenovic the goal for the granata.
The Nerazzurri were the first team to reach the semifinals of the Italian Cup.
First chance from the Nerazzurri: in the 5th minute Bonny turns in the box and kicks with his left but his shot is too central. In the 20th minute Carlos Augusto’s great shot from the distance splinters the crossbar. In the 30th minute Prati tries with his left from outside the box but his shot ends high over the crossbar. In the 35th minute Kamate gets away from Obrador and crosses with his right for Bonny who with his header anticipates Paleari and scores. In the final minutes Kulenovic tries a header but his attempt ends up high.
At the beginning of the second half, Inter doubled: Frattesi imbued for Thuram, who went off on the right flank and put in a trailer for Diouf, who on a slide beat Paleari. Toro responded with two chances within two minutes but Njie’s shot from inside the area was easy prey for Martinez while Vlasic’s went close to the post. At 56′ Bonny is hurt: in his place comes Pio Esposito and with him also Lautaro Martinez and Sucic. Immediately after the change, Toro reopened the game with Kulenovic anticipating Martinez and scoring with a header. In the 74th minute the granata found the equalizer with Prati’s header but the midfielder was slightly offside. In the final, Prati tried again with a right-footed shot just wide.
Thanks to this success, Inter flies into the semifinals of the Coppa Italia where it will face one between Napoli and Como. The Azzurri and Como will face each other on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the Maradona, while on Thursday, Feb. 5, it will be Juventus’s turn to take on Atalanta. Finally, Bologna and Lazio will close the quarterfinal schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at the Dall’Ara.
The last edition of the Coppa Italia saw Bologna triumph: the Rossoblù beat AC Milan by a narrow margin (1-0) thanks to a goal by Dan Ndoye at the start of the second half in the final played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. It was a historic triumph for the Bologna club, which returned to win the domestic cup 51 years after’the last time.
