Roma cruise into Italian Cup final

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ROME, Italy -- Roma cruised into the final of the Italian Cup when they swept aside AC Milan 3-1 to complete a 5-3 win on aggregate on Wednesday.

A place in another final -- Roma's fourth in the last five years having finished runners-up to Milan in 2003 and Inter Milan in 2005 and 2006 -- was a deserved reward for a polished performance.

Roma will now play the winners of Thursday's semifinal between Inter Milan and Sampdoria. Inter lead 3-0 after the first leg.

"It was a difficult match, but we read it to perfection," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. "The team gave everything tonight. I'm really proud of them. If Inter make it through to the final, we'll be ready for them."

Francesco Totti created Roma's first goal in the eighth minute when he threaded a ball through the defence for Mancini to score.

Milan equalised in the 18th minute when Marek Jankulovski burst forward and laid the ball off for Alberto Gilardino to fire in from just inside the area.

Roma re-took the lead five minutes later through Simone Perrotta who tapped in the rebound after Dida saved a close-range shot by Totti.

Milan were undone again immediately after the break when David Pizarro curled a fine low ball round Dida from outside the area.

"It was Pizarro's goal that complicated things for us," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted. "We gave them a few gifts they didn't really need tonight, but overall I'd say it was a fair result".

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