Vieri hat-trick destroys Ipswich

Their first opportunity arrived with 45 seconds on the clock. Having advanced for a free-kick, Titus Bramble could only loop his header to a Jim Magilton cross on to the roof of Francesco Toldo's net.

Finidi George then had a shot charged down as Ipswich continued to enjoy territorial dominance. We should have known better.

After offering up only a weak shot by Mohamed Kallon in the opening 13 minutes, a powerful Luigi Di Biagio header, which Italian goalkeeper Matteo Sereni held only at the second attempt, hinted at the awakening of an angry giant.

Five minutes later the Italians were level on aggregate. Turkey's Belozoglu Emre whipped in a freekick from the right and Vieri raced ahead of his marker to divert the ball home with the most delicate of flicked headers.

If Ipswich fingers were pointed angrily at Magilton, who had failed to track the Italy international's run, it was with a sinking feeling of the torture to come.

Sereni was next extended by Kallon. By midway through the half, Inter were coming through in waves. Vieri surged past Bramble to make a mockery of reports of the England Under 21 international's pace. His shot was delivered with such deceiving swerve that Sereni was forced to palm the ball away before it dropped into the far corner.

It appeared inevitable that Inter would extend their lead but a poor back-pass from Ivan Cordoba gifted Richard Naylor the opportunity to seize a vital away goal which would have given Ipswich breathing space.

The contrast in centre forward play was embarrassing. Naylor dallied and stumbled before sending in an apology of a shot which Toldo had only to bend down to stop. Inevitably, such profligacy was punished almost instantly. A mazy run by Inter captain Javier Zanetti was halted only by a push from behind for which Jermaine Wright was rightly booked.

In need of fortune, Ipswich had none from the resultant free-kick. A routine which went wrong ended with Vratislav Gresko's hurried shot cannoning off Bramble. The ball fell just out of Vieri's reach only for the striker to make light of the inconvenience by swivelling to hook home in imperious fashion.

The half-time introduction of striker Alun Armstrong was not unexpected but the surprise was that Burley took Naylor off instead of giving him a partner up front.

Not that it mattered 27 seconds after the restart. A long ball from Di Biagio was this time flicked on by Vieri and guided past Sereni by Kallon to extinguish all hope for the Premiership's bottom club.

Sereni stood up bravely to Vieri in the 63rd minute. However, that stop only delayed the crowning moment of the man regarded as the heartbeat of this Inter side. Racing on to a perfect floated pass from Guly, Vieri rounded Sereni with ease before completing the sweetest of hat-tricks.

Armstrong's penalty 11 minutes from time, following a blatant handball by Zanetti, lightened the Ipswich mood and even hinted at the most unlikely of comebacks.

Di Biagio was booked, so too Gresko as Ipswich poured forward. In the end, though, their fans trudged out of the San Siro knowing only too well that the class had belonged to Vieri and Inter.

Burley said: 'Most teams would have struggled with Inter in the form they are in at the moment. Commonsense told us it was going to be tough here.

'Vieri is one of the best strikers in the world. He's very hard to deal with and it was a great hat-trick. That's why Inter paid £31million for him. The experience will have done my players the world of good and stood us in good stead for the Premiership.'