Rueters
Thursday, November 9, 2000; 5:55 PM

ARNHEM, Netherlands, Nov 9 – Inter Milan scraped through to the UEFA Cup third round on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at Vitesse Arnhem gave them victory on the away goals rule.

Inter, who are in the UEFA Cup after losing a Champions League qualifier to Swedish underdogs Helsingborg, had drawn the first leg 0-0 at San Siro.

The Italians were 10 minutes away from another humiliating defeat in Europe before Croat defender Dario Simic struck to cancel out Bob Peeters' 14th minute opener for the Dutchmen.

Vitesse have never reached the latter stages of a major European competition but the team coached by former Dutch international defender Ronald Koeman more than matched the big-spending Serie A club in both matches.

Vitesse were on top from the start and Inter 'keeper Sebastien Frey was forced into an early save to keep out a shot from Mahamadou Diarra.

The Dutch side took the lead when their outstanding left winger Victor Sikora whipped over a cross and Peeters hooked the ball home.

Inter nearly equalised on the half hour when Turkish striker Hakan Sukur struck the post but it was clear the Italians needed more punch in attack.

At the break, coach Marco Tardelli threw on centre-forweard Christian Vieri, who has made just one substitute appearance since a muscle injury in May.

But even with Vieri in the frontline, Inter found it hard to break down a well-organised Dutch defence. Lively Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba did force a good save out of Edwin Zoetbier though with a close-range strike after a fine knock down from Hakan.

With the towering Peeters ruffling the feathers of the Inter defence and Sikora proving a constant threat down the left flank, Vitesse looked to be heading for a memorable victory.

But 10 minutes from the end, Inter's Dutch international substitute Clarence Seedorf slipped the ball across the area and Simic drove it into the bottom corner.

Vitesse put Inter under intense pressure in the final minutes with a series of goalmouth scrambles.

But the Italians hung on and avoided becoming the third Serie A team to be knocked out of Europe this week after Juventus and Udinese both fell to defeats in Greece.