CSKA Moscow 0 Inter Milan 1 (Agg: 0-2):Wesley Sneijder propelled Inter Milan to their first Champions League semi-final since 2003 when his early goal gave them a 1-0 victory over CSKA Moscow.
The in-form Dutch playmaker fired the visitors ahead less than six minutes into the game when his low 20-metre free kick skidded under CSKA's defensive wall and evaded goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev.
With Inter holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Sneijder's goal all but killed the home team's chances as the Italian champions held firm for a comfortable 2-0 win on aggregate.
CSKA' defender Chidi Odiah was sent off in the 49th minute after he picked up his second yellow card after a foul on Samuel Eto'o.
Overhauling their first-leg deficit always looked like being a tough task for the home side, given the way they were completely outplayed at the San Siro last week and the absence of key midfielder Yevgeny Aldonin and Milos Krasic through suspension.
But they made a bright start on the plastic pitch at Luzhniki Stadium and had an early effort on goal from Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda, who dragged a long-range effort wide.
But Inter landed an early body blow as they opened the scoring. Sneijder drilled in a low free-kick that flew under the leaping wall and fooled keeper Akinfeev to end up in the back of the net.
That goal meant the hosts needed to score three goals to have any chance of going through and Inter went close to getting their second goal of the night as Goran Pandev had a sight of goal, but Akinfeev comfortably held his shot.
Conceding the goal prompted an early response from CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky as he hauled off defender Vasili Berezutsky after just 13 minutes to replace him with Odiah.
Honda then fired wide with two optimistic free-kick efforts from distance, but the hosts did go close to grabbing a goal back when Tomas Necid fired agonisingly wide after controlling Odiah’s pass in the 24th minute.
Odiah then saw Julio Cesar tip his shot round the post at the other end, but the Italian champions looked comfortable soaking up any CSKA pressure.
And things got even worse for the Russian side when Odiah was dismissed just three minutes into the second half as his rash lunge for a loose ball saw him bring down Samuel Eto’o to earn himself a second yellow card.
But they continued to push forward in search of a goal and midfielder Gonzalez had two chances in the space of a minute. The Chile international firstly smashed a half-volley that Julio Cesar did well to hang on to, before dragging another effort wide from the edge of the box.
With 20 minutes to go Jose Mourinho’s side were dominating possession, sweeping the ball around at will, and Sneijder and Dejan Stankovic both forced Akinfeev into action with powerful efforts, and the keeper did superbly to keep out Milito’s effort with the Argentina international through on goal.
The game rather petered out from that point, although Eto’o just failed to add a second as he shot over the bar in the final minutes.