Inter cruise into last eight of Italian Cup

MILAN: Inter Milan cruised into the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup after beating second-tier Benevento 6-2 in a match played behind closed doors following the racist abuse of Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly last month.

Inter ran riot in a San Siro left empty as part of the punishment the club received for the monkey chants directed at Koulibaly during their 1-0 Boxing Day win over Napoli.

“That wasn’t a real match tonight,” said Inter coach Luciano Spalletti.

“The protagonists of the game are the fans, who should come and have fun watching the show on the pitch.

“We can’t deprive good people of enjoyment because others disturb the match (with their behaviour). We need to reward that type of fan, who needs to take a stand against the chants they don’t want to take part in.”

Spalletti’s side were two up inside seven minutes thanks to a roaring start that saw Mauro Icardi open the racism scandal of their own.

Their 4-1 thumping of third-division Novara at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday was sullied by racist and anti-Semitic chanting dismissed by the club as a “psychosis focusing on a minority or non-existent incidents”.

Lazio’s notorious hardcore ultra fans aimed a series of ugly barbs at their bitter city rivals Roma as their side ran up a four-goal lead before half-time, taunting them with chants of “Yellow, red and Jewish” and “This Roma that looks like Africa”.

Lazio spokesman Arturo Diaconale blasted reports of the chanting by a small section of the crowd as “a psychosis”, and said that “98 per cent” of the crowd did not even hear them.

Napoli will take on AC Milan in the last eight after goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Fabian Ruiz saw off Sassuolo at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples on Sunday. Milan beat Sampdoria 2-0 on Saturday.