Adriano sees Inter through

Internazionale 3 - Porto 1 <i>Inter win 4-2 on aggregate</i>

The Brazilian striker Adriano scored a hat-trick as Internazionale beat Porto 3-1 last night to end the Portuguese side's reign as European champions and put the Italians safely through to the last eight of the Champions' League.

The Brazilian striker Adriano scored a hat-trick as Internazionale beat Porto 3-1 last night to end the Portuguese side's reign as European champions and put the Italians safely through to the last eight of the Champions' League.

Adriano scored his first goal after six minutes, his drive hitting Pedro Emanuel and looping over Vitor Baia, to give Inter a half-time advantage and leave Porto needing to score at least once in the second half to have any chance of repeating last year's success.

But after 63 minutes Adriano scored again, Julio Cruz sending him into the area where he finished neatly with the outside of his left foot to put Inter 3-1 ahead on aggregate.

They were pegged back when Jorge Costa scored his first goal in the competition for more than five years by scrambling the ball home from a corner on 69 minutes.

That set up an anxious last spell for the home side, who could have made life easier if Javier Zanetti had scored on a breakaway. The defender's shot was cleared off the line by Pedro Emanuel.

Instead it was left to Adriano to complete his hat-trick three minutes from time. Inter sprang the Porto offside trap, Juan Sebastian Veron's pass setting the striker clear to cut in from the right and, with defenders closing in, drive a low shot across Baia to complete a memorable night for himself and his team and book a quarter-final place alongside Inter's Serie A rivals AC Milan and Juventus.

Internazionale: Toldo, J Zanetti, Materazzi, Mihajlovic, Ze Maria, Cambiasso, C Zanetti, Stankovic, Veron, Adriano, Cruz. Substitutes: Carini, Emre, Van der Meyde, Gonzalez, Gamarra, Martins, Vieri.

FC Porto: Baia, Jorge Costa, Pedro Emanuel, Ricardo Costa, Costinha, Nuno Valente, Maniche, Diego, Seitaridis, Claudio, McCarthy. Substitutes: Nuno, Pepe, Quaresma, Raul Meireles, Postiga, Paulo Machado, Ivanildo.

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway).