Lazio 0 FC Porto 0
Porto win 4-1 on aggregate
Portuguese league leaders Porto progressed coolly to the final of the UEFA Cup by preserving their 4-1 advantage in a scoreless return leg of their semi-final with Lazio in Rome this evening.
Porto will meet Celtic in the final in Seville on May 21st. The two sides played the entire second half with 10 men after Lazio's Cesar and Porto striker Helder Postiga, both booked for an earlier off-the-ball incident, were sent off in the 45th minute after a similar clash.
The Italian club, beaten 4-1 in the first leg, began the night with the difficult task of scoring at least three times to stand any chance of progressing to the final in Seville.
In the first half they played with ragged urgency, throwing men forward and often surrendering possession to a Porto side that looked in no mood to hurry.
Porto had the first shot on goal in the seventh minute when Brazilian striker Derlei - scorer of two goals in the first leg - unleashed a 25-metre drive that keeper Luca Marchegiani parried on his line.
Lazio eventually calmed their nerves and found their range after 20 minutes, but had to wait until shortly before the break before coming close to breaking the deadlock when striker Claudio Lopez's curling shot from outside the area was tipped round the post by Porto keeper Vitor Baia.
After the interval, Lazio earned a penalty when striker Simone Inzaghi was brought down in the box, but Lopez's weak kick from the spot was beaten away by keeper Vitor Baia, and the visitors easily stifled the hosts' last-ditch attacks.