The tie was level at 1-1 after the first leg last week and Inter had early chances to finish the tie with Marco Materazzi and Adriano going close.

Stankovic broke through in the 36th minute with a fierce drive into the top corner of the net.

Santiago Solari wasted a good late chance to equalise when his weak lob went straight to the goalkeeper and Igli Tare could have taken it to extra time with a soft header.

Inter will face Udinese in the semifinals while Palermo will take on Roma.

Serie A leaders Juventus were knocked out on Wednesday despite beating Roma 1-0 in a bad-tempered quarterfinal, second leg.

Adrian Mutu's penalty shortly after half-time gave Juve victory on the night, but the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate and Roma went through on the away goals rule.

In Wednesday's early tie, Udinese clinched a semi-final place after drawing 2-2 at Sampdoria for a 3-3 aggregate score.

Udinese, who squandered a two-goal lead in Genoa, went through to the last four on away goals.