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January 23, 2015

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Shaqiri praised as Inter beats Sampdoria

INTER Milan coach Roberto Mancini hailed the “class” of Xherdan Shaqiri after the Swiss international scored his maiden goal on his full debut to help seal a place in the Italian Cup quarterfinal with a 2-0 win over depleted Sampdoria.

Sampdoria was reduced to 10 men on 11 minutes when Nenad Krsticic saw a straight red card but Inter striker Mauro Icardi missed a first-half penalty minutes before half-time.

Shaqiri gave Roberto Mancini’s men a 71st minute lead with his maiden Inter goal on his first start since joining the club on a four-and-a-half-year deal from Bayern Munich.

After Sampdoria saw Pawel Wszolek sent off for a second bookable offence on 77 minutes, Icardi sealed the win two minutes from time to set up a quarterfinal tie with either Napoli or Udinese.

Mancini was quick to praise the positive impact of both Swiss international Shaqiri and former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski but believes a “more compact” Inter can do more damage. “Shaqiri’s class and personality was clear for all to see. I’m happy that he and Podolski had such a good game,” said Mancini. “I think we can do even better though. Once the team is more compact they’ll be able to play with even more quality.”

In England, Tottenham will take a slender 1-0 lead into the second leg of its League Cup semifinal against Sheffield United after Andros Townsend’s penalty secured a win. Spurs were largely kept in check by third tier United in a combative first leg, but it managed to secure the advantage when Townsend converted a spot-kick after Jay McEveley’s handball late in second half.

In France, Edinson Cavani scored his second goal in as many games since being restored to the Paris Saint-Germain line-up as PSG reached the last 16 of the French Cup with a 2-1 win over Bordeaux.


 

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