Inter Milan successfully earned their fifth straight victories under Leonardo this midweek after beating their visitor Cesena at San Siro, however their three points once again achieved in a very hard way as the away put up a great fight despite finishing the game with 10 men.
Highly criticized Inter defender, Christian Chivu, becomes the hero of the night after scoring the winning goal that seal the 3-2 victory for the Nerazzurri late in the first half.
Playing one of their postponed matches due to the commitment they had tin the Fifa World Club Cup last December, Inter started brightly again just like their previous matches under the guidance of their new coach Leonardo. With a new motivation and confidence the Nerazzurri players went two goals ahead just before the 15 minutes marked through their dangerous duo, Samuel Eto’o and also Diego Milito.
The Cameroon international get the first goal after a nice combination play with Milito, while the Argentinian added the second just a minute after the first one through a simple tap in, capitalizing on a ball from Goran Pandev. Unfortunately just few minutes after scoring the goal, the Argentinian striker has to leave the field after suffering a thigh injury forcing Leonardo putting on young striker, Jonathan Biabiany as an early substitute in that half.
The absence of Milito seemed to have some sort of effect on the game as not long after the former Genoa striker leave the filed, Cesena managed to pull a goal back through Erjan Bogdani’s fine shot after the player was left unmarked in the penalty box. Motivated by Bogdani’s goal, the away team went for the attacking route and pushed for the equalizer in which they did get five minutes after the first through Giaccherini.
Stunned by the current scoreline, Inter pushed forward once again in search for another goal that would restore their lead and after a hard fought battle, lady luck still seems to smile for Leonardos again as deep on injury time the Nerazzurri scored again. Chivo rise the highest in the penalty are to convert Maicon’s wonderful cross ending the first half with a thrilling 3-2 win for Inter that in theory should make things eve more interesting in the second hal.
Having such a high expectation of a high scoring game in the end, the neutral fans left disappointed as both team failed to get into the score sheet in the second period despite the two went close in scoring. The question mark should be asked for Inter though as despite having a man advantage with Giaccherini’s harsh dismissal, Cesena stood strong and played their own kind of game that deserved plenty of praise although they still left the field without any point.
Match Reports
Inter Milan v Cesena 3-2
Goals: Eto’o, Milito, Chivu (Inter); Bogdani, Giaccherini (Cesena)
Inter: Castellazzi; Maicon, Lucio, Materazzi, Chivu; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Stankovic; Pandev (Cordoba 85); Milito (Biabiany 20) (Obi 75), Eto’o
Cesena: Antonioli; Ceccarelli, Benalouane, Von Bergen, Lauro (Dellafiore 63); Parolo, Colucci, Sammarco (Caserta 69); Jimenez (Budan 78); Bogdani, Giaccherini
