Mancini cautious despite comfortable 2-0 lead

Brazil striker Adriano scored twice as Inter cruised to a 2-0 win over Roma in the first leg of the Italian Cup final at Rome's Olympic Stadium on Sunday.

Adriano's double left Roma with a mountain to climb in the return at the San Siro tomorrow to prevent Inter picking up their first domestic silverware since the Serie A title in 1989.

Roma started brightly but a 35-metre rocket by Adriano on the half-hour mark put the visitors ahead.

The striker grabbed his second six minutes later, heading in from close range after a foul by Cristian Chivu had gifted Inter a free-kick on the edge of the area.

"Quite apart from Adriano's excellent individual performance I thought we played really well," said Inter coach Roberto Mancini, who is attempting to claim his third Cup in five years.

He won the trophy with Fiorentina in 2001 and steered Lazio to victory in last season's competition.

"We left them too much space at the start, but once the lads understood what they were doing wrong, we looked much more secure."

Asked whether he felt Inter already had one hand on the cup, Mancini replied: "Just look at what happened in the Champions League final in Istanbul. There are still 90 minutes to play."

Roma coach Bruno Conti tried to remain upbeat.

"We started moves, but couldn't finish them. We need to understand why. When we go to Milan we'll have nothing to lose," he said.

Had Roma's finishing been better, they might have been two goals up within the opening six minutes.

Less than 30 seconds had elapsed when Francesco Totti accelerated into Inter's area and laid the ball off to Antonio Cassano to fire straight at keeper Francesco Toldo. Another great run by the Roma captain ended with him cutting the ball back across the area for Cassano, who fired against the foot of the post.

After the interval Conti introduced a third striker, Vincenzo Montella, in an attempt to haul his team back into contention. Montella did force Toldo into a diving save but Roma finished well-beaten.