Serie A leaders Roma were one man down as they lost 1-0 at Udinese Wednesday, but secured the Italian Cup final through a 2-1 aggregate score.
At the Friuli stadium, the Udine hosts were on target with nine minutes left with Chile's Alexis Sanchez, who stormed past John Riise on the right flank to beat Julio Sergio from a tight angle, dpa reported.
Things worsened two minutes later for Roma with the dismissal of Marco Cassetti after a second booking, but they managed to resist and avoid a second goal that would have forced them to a difficult extra time.
Udinese missed a last chance when Swiss Gokhan Inler saw his long-range drive deflected against the post by Julio Sergio.
The Roma side are now to tackle Inter Milan, who last week eliminated Fiorentina, in a one-leg clash on May 5 in Rome.
The final adds fuel to the two sides' rivalry in the Serie A, where Roma leapfrogged Inter two weeks ago and holds a one-point lead with four games left.
It will be the fifth the Rome and Milan side have played in the past six years, winning two each. Roma look to lift a record-setting 10th cup, while Inter have won five.
Udinese lie low, but are safe from relegation, in the league and missed a chance to secure an Europa League berth, as Inter are already qualified for the next Champions League.
The hosts had to play an attack-geared game, given the 2-0 deficit from the first leg, but hardly managed to threaten in a fairly slow-paced first half.
Roma rested veteran Francesco Totti, David Pizarro, Juan and striker Mirko Vucinic, starting off with Luca Toni and Brazilian Julio Baptista up front.
After a rather dull first half, Serie A top striker Antonio Di Natale was blocked in the area by a prompt tackle from Marco Cassetti and squandered off a feed from Chilean Alexis Sanchez.
Simone Pepe threatened with a swerving free kick on 59 minutes, before Roma coach Claudio Ranieri brought on midfielder Jeremy Menez for Toni as Udinese dominated the last part of the game.
...