Leonardo era begins in style
Source: Agencies |
January 8, 2011, Saturday
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LEONARDO made a dream debut as Inter Milan manager as Thiago Motta scored twice in a 3-1 win over Napoli on Thursday in Milan.
Leonardo replaced Rafa Benitez over the Italian league's holiday break and the victory was Inter's first in Serie A since November. Perhaps more importantly, Inter showed the same flare and goal-scoring ability it had last season en route to a historic treble.
Thiago Motta put Inter in front with a volley from the edge of the area three minutes in at the San Siro. After Michele Pazienza equalized for Napoli in the 25th, Esteban Cambiasso restored Inter's lead with a soaring header in the 37th and Thiago Motta added the third with a header in the 55th.
"I don't want to talk too much just because we won one game, but we beat a good team that was second in the standings," Leonardo said. "This squad is (in form). It didn't win by chance for the last five years. This squad has a soul and it had fun playing today."
Inter remained in seventh place, 13 points behind leader and city rival AC Milan, which edged Cagliari 1-0 earlier with an 85th-minute goal from Rodney Strasser.
However, Inter has two games to make up that it missed while winning the Club World Cup last month.
Newly signed Antonio Cassano made an immediate impact for Milan, setting up Strasser's goal in his first action since October.
Earlier, Juventus lost one key player to injury and another to a red card in a 4-1 loss to Parma.
Also, Lazio was held 0-0 at Genoa and AS Roma rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Catania 4-2 with two late strikes from Mirko Vucinic.
Milan leads with 39 points, five more than Lazio. Napoli is third with 33 points, followed by Roma with 32 and Juventus with 31.
Also, it was: Bologna 1, Fiorentina 1; Brescia 1, Cesena 2; Lecce 0, Bari 1; Palermo 3, Sampdoria 0; and Udinese 2, Chievo Verona 0.
Leonardo replaced Rafa Benitez over the Italian league's holiday break and the victory was Inter's first in Serie A since November. Perhaps more importantly, Inter showed the same flare and goal-scoring ability it had last season en route to a historic treble.
Thiago Motta put Inter in front with a volley from the edge of the area three minutes in at the San Siro. After Michele Pazienza equalized for Napoli in the 25th, Esteban Cambiasso restored Inter's lead with a soaring header in the 37th and Thiago Motta added the third with a header in the 55th.
"I don't want to talk too much just because we won one game, but we beat a good team that was second in the standings," Leonardo said. "This squad is (in form). It didn't win by chance for the last five years. This squad has a soul and it had fun playing today."
Inter remained in seventh place, 13 points behind leader and city rival AC Milan, which edged Cagliari 1-0 earlier with an 85th-minute goal from Rodney Strasser.
However, Inter has two games to make up that it missed while winning the Club World Cup last month.
Newly signed Antonio Cassano made an immediate impact for Milan, setting up Strasser's goal in his first action since October.
Earlier, Juventus lost one key player to injury and another to a red card in a 4-1 loss to Parma.
Also, Lazio was held 0-0 at Genoa and AS Roma rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Catania 4-2 with two late strikes from Mirko Vucinic.
Milan leads with 39 points, five more than Lazio. Napoli is third with 33 points, followed by Roma with 32 and Juventus with 31.
Also, it was: Bologna 1, Fiorentina 1; Brescia 1, Cesena 2; Lecce 0, Bari 1; Palermo 3, Sampdoria 0; and Udinese 2, Chievo Verona 0.
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