AS Roma came from behind to draw 1-1 with holders Inter Milan in the first leg of the Italian Cup final on Wednesday thanks to a goal by Brazilian Mancini.
Inter, who beat Roma 3-0 on aggregate in last season's final, looked on course for another comfortable win when they went ahead in the eighth minute through striker Julio Cruz.
But a strong second-half performance by the hosts was rewarded 10 minutes after the interval when winger Mancini swept in the equaliser at the end of a break down the right.
With away goals counting double, Inter take a slim advantage into the return leg at Milan's San Siro stadium on May 11.
"I think that was the right result. Roma are a good side and we never thought this would be an easy match," Inter coach Roberto Mancini said.
"It's hard to be at your best physically at this stage of the season. In the second half we got stretched a little - our strikers were too far up the pitch and we had too few players in the middle. We almost invited Roma to come at us."
Mancini, under pressure after a Champions League quarter-final exit and another season playing second-fiddle to Juventus and AC Milan in the Serie A title race, gambled by starting with under-fire striker Adriano.
The Brazil forward, with just four goals in 2006, repaid his faith by creating the opening goal in the eighth minute, jinking a neat through ball for strike partner Julio Cruz to break the offside trap and slide past Roma goalkeeper Doni.
TOTTI BACK
Roma's Italy striker Francesco Totti finally returned to the squad to end his 72-day exile from football following an ankle injury but spent the entire match on the bench.
In his absence, Roma took 30 minutes to find the rhythm needed to exert sustained pressure on Inter.
Midfielder Daniele De Rossi came closest to grabbing a first-half equaliser with a dipping shot that visiting keeper Julio Cesar did well to tip behind for a corner.
At the other end, Doni had to pull off a full-stretch save to prevent Dejan Stankovic doubling Inter's lead with a free kick just before halftime.
After an evenly-balanced first half Roma's players seemed transformed following the interval, closing down their opponents and pushing up aggressively in search of the equaliser.
Rodrigo Taddei was the first to threaten Inter's goal, when he turned Christian Panucci's cross wide at the near post.
The striker made up for his miss in the 55th minute, breaking down the right to send in a low ball, which De Rossi back-heeled neatly into the path of Mancini who swept home past Cesar to level the scores with the best move of the match.
Roma continued to create the better chances and almost snatched a stoppage-time winner when Simone Perrotta set up Edgar Alvarez on the edge of the box but the midfielder scuffed his shot into the ground.
"We made things difficult for ourselves. We messed up passes that normally we make," said Roma coach Luciano Spalletti.
"But in the second half we tightened things up and the chances came. It's just a shame we let in the early goal. To go behind so quickly was a real setback".
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