Catania 3 - 1 Internazionale
Wesley Sneijder, middle, and his Inter team-mates
try to digest the 3-1 defeat at Catania.
Catania threw
the Serie A title race wide open and took a giant step towards
securing their own future in the top flight by beating
10-man Internazionale
3-1. Diego Milito put José Mourinho's team, who play
Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday, in front in the 54th
minute but the home side scored three goals in the final 16 minutes
to secure an unlikely victory.
Inter's lead at the top of the table could be cut to one point
if Milan beat Chievo on Sunday night while Catania have moved eight
points clear of the bottom three.
Catania started brightly but failed to make their early
dominance count and Inter slowed the play down to suit their own
style and frustrate the home team. The visitors had to wait until
the 34th minute for their first shot on goal, though, and when it
came it was an easy save for Mariano Andujar from Wesley Sneijder's
angled effort.
Adrián Ricchiuti then had another chance with just Júlio César
to beat but Lucio threw himself desperately at the ball and did
enough to put the Catania midfielder off and deflect his shot
wide.
Inter emerged for the second half with a lot more conviction and
they were ahead in the 54th minute when a long ball from Dejan
Stankovic cut through the Catania defence and picked out Samuel
Eto'o. The Cameroonian looked up and saw Milito alongside him and
gave the Argentinian a simple tap-in to put the Nerazzurri
ahead.
Catania responded well, though, and Giuseppi Mascara sent a low
free-kick just wide of Júlio César's goal in the 58th minute. The
home side seemed to be tiring and in need of a moment of
inspiration and they got it in the 75th minute with Maxi López
scoring his third goal in Italian football. He beat Lucio to Jorge
Martínez's low cross and lifted the ball into the roof of the net
from six yards.
The Sicilians suddenly found themselves in the ascendancy and
Sulley Muntari gifted them the chance to go ahead with one of the
quickest red cards in Serie A history.
The Ghanaian had been on the field only a few seconds when he
was shown a yellow card for a foul on the edge of the penalty area
and he then deliberately handled the resulting free-kick inside the
box to earn a second booking and give Catania a penalty.
Mascara cheekily chipped his spot-kick straight down the middle
to send the Stadio Massimino wild. And they had reason to celebrate
again in the final minute when Martínez dribbled past Lucio from
the left and slotted the ball past Júlio César to seal a remarkable
victory.
