Cruz control revives Inter
Tuesday, 1 November 2005
by Adam Szreter
from Giuseppe Meazza
FC Internazionale Milano's blushes, and those of their besieged
coach Roberto Mancini, were spared by two late goals from
substitute Julio Cruz, the first a penalty, but FC Porto will
wonder how this UEFA Champions League Group H game got away.
Eerily silent
Inter laboured all evening in an eerily silent stadium, but whether
the indiscretion of their fans last season was to blame for their
plight was immaterial in the end and now they are strong favourites
to progress to the knockout stage.
Trio absent
Inter, looking to put a recent mini-slump behind them, were without
the injured Iván Córdoba while neither Esteban Cambiasso nor Javier
Zanetti were fit enough to start. The 24-year-old Argentinian
Nicolás Burdisso made his first start of the season at right-back
and Chilean David Pizarro was given another chance alongside Juan
Sebastián Verón in midfield.
McCarthy benched
Porto coach Co Adriaanse stuck to the side that drew with
Portuguese Cup holders Vitória FC at the weekend which meant no
place for Benni McCarthy in attack and, even more surprisingly, no
place on the bench for fellow striker Lisandro López.
Few openings
Inter struggled to find any rhythm at all and it was not long
before they were made to pay in the most spectacular fashion when,
direct from a free-kick 30 metres out, Hugo Almeida justified his
selection ahead of McCarthy with a thunderbolt that flew past Julio
César into the top corner of the Inter net. As perfect a strike as
will be seen all season.
Squandered chances
Adriano, attempting to return the compliment from a similar
distance, hit the massed ranks of empty seats 15 rows back. The big
Brazilian went a little closer with a near-post header moments
later, and was then denied by Marek Èech's intervention after good
work by Obafemi Martins. Luís Figo later fired one past the post
from the edge of the Porto area, but Inter were flattering to
deceive.
Robust back line
Martins managed to get his head to a subsequent Figo cross but only
succeeded in directing the ball straight into Vítor Baía's arms,
while Adriano looked a touch slow to react when he found space
inside the area and Pepe got the block on his shot. There was scant
encouragement for Mancini by half-time.
Brief break
Whatever he said to them at the interval, the Inter coach kept it
brief as the Nerazzurri players were back out ahead of their
opponents, who sent on Raúl Meireles in place of Alan. For Inter it
was not long before Cambiasso joined the fray in place of Pierre
Womé, with Figo switching to the left and Verón to the right.
Martins miss
Adriano, plagued by a persistent shoulder injury, soon gave way to
Cruz and Sinia Mihajloviæ made his second appearance of the season
in place of Walter Samuel, but all the changes made little
difference.
Penalty decision
Just when it was getting hard to see a way back for Inter, Porto
captain Pedro Emanuel mistimed a tackle on Pizarro just inside the
Porto area and referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto González, who took
charge of last May's epic final in Istanbul, had no hesitation in
pointing to the spot. Cruz dispatched the penalty with
aplomb.
Cruz crucial
Vítor Baía then did well to turn over a fierce free-kick from
Mihajloviæ but Inter, and Cruz in particular, were in the
ascendancy and the Argentinian's 82nd-minute header from
Mihajloviæ's corner crept in past Meireles, standing guard on the
post, to provide victory, and relief, for Mancini's Inter.
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