Inter Milan held firm to secure a 2-1 victory over Torino in front of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, booking their place in the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the sixth time in seven seasons.

The Nerazzurri were denied their usual home advantage after the San Siro was unavailable due to preparations for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. As a result, the quarter-final was staged 25 kilometres away at Monza’s U-Power Stadium. Among the 17,000 spectators was Inter supporter Infantino, who was in the city for the start of the Games.

Despite dominating recent cup ties, Inter once again began slowly. Only one of their previous 10 goals had come in the opening half-hour, and that trend nearly continued when Carlos Augusto rattled the crossbar with a long-range effort in the 20th minute.

On the opposite flank, 21-year-old Issiaka Kamate was making his full debut and proved instrumental in breaking the deadlock. Ten minutes before half-time, he created space and delivered a precise cross for Ange-Yoan Bonny, who headed home unmarked to claim his seventh goal of the season.

Bonny had also scored in Inter’s emphatic 5-1 victory over Venezia in the previous round, and another scorer from that match, Andy Diouf, doubled the lead shortly after the restart. The midfielder timed his run to perfection to meet Marcus Thuram’s cut-back and slid the ball home for his third goal of the campaign, all of which have come in cup competitions.

Facing elimination, Torino pushed forward in search of a response. Faustino Anjorin tested Josep Martinez from distance, while Nikola Vlasic narrowly missed the target with a drilled effort.

Their pressure paid off just before the hour mark when Marcus Holmgren Pedersen’s cross looped invitingly for Sandro Kulenovic, who marked his full debut with his first goal for the club following his recent loan move from Dinamo Zagreb.

The goal reignited the contest, and Matteo Prati appeared to have completed the comeback with a header 16 minutes from time, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

Vlasic curled a late attempt wide as Torino continued to press, but Inter held on to claim their eighth consecutive victory over the Granata. The result sets up a semi-final clash against either Como or Napoli, while Torino remain winless in 14 meetings with the Nerazzurri.