Champions League - Inter top group after late show

Eurosport - Tue, 03 Nov 13:02:00 2009

Internazionale staged a smash-and-grab raid with two goals in the final five minutes to beat Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in Ukraine and top Champions League Group F.

Inter Milan's Sneijder and Balotelli celebrate a goal against Dynamo Kiev during their Champions League match in Kiev - 0

Diego Milito pounced with four minutes remaining to cancel out Andriy Shevchenko's opener then Wesley Sneijder snatched all three points in the 89th minute.

With Rubin Kazan and Barcelona playing out a goalless draw earlier in the day, the opportunity was there for one of these two teams to steal a march in the group.

Throughout the opening exchanges Jose Mourinho's Italian champions looked the more likely to conjure something special.

Milito created the first half just three minutes in, controlling the ball on the edge of the penalty area before laying it off for Sneijder to strike at goal.

The Dutch playmaker connected well and Stanislav Bogush was relieved to see the ball fly marginally over his crossbar.

Inter, despite stamping their authority on the match, did not create another good chance until the 18th minute. Julio Cesar punted the ball upfield, Milito flicked on with his head and the onrushing Samuel Eto'o blasted over when perhaps subtlety would have been the more appropriate technique.

That seemed to serve as the wake-up call for the home side for, just two minutes after that strike from Eto'o, Dynamo Kiev took the lead against the run of play.

Artem Milveskiy received the ball on the edge of the box following a long throw and he chested into the path of Shevchenko, who largely failed to produce the goods for Mourinho at Chelsea.

The striker unleashed a shot an effort that dipped under Julio Cesar's crossbar for the opening goal.

Dynamo were resilient for the remainder of the first half; restricting their Italian opposition to few clear-cut opportunities, and consequently went in at the break a goal to the good.

In response, Mourinho introduced Thiago Motta and Mario Balotelli to increase his side's attacking flair; however it took until the hour mark for Inter to test previously unflappable keeper Bogush in a torrid 10-minute spell.

One such chance saw Sneijder deliver a cunning ball into the box which Walter Samuel smartly flicked on and somehow Eto'o managed to head wide from no more than three yards out.

It was a criminal miss from the Cameroon star, and the Nerazzuri were left cursing their misfortune shortly afterwards as Samuel superbly met a Sneijder free-kick but the woodwork came to Dynamo's rescue.

Kiev were defending bravely, but their barrier was finally broken just four minutes from full-time. Sneijder, who was proving to be a constant menace, cut in from the left before feeding Milito whose smart turn-and-shot beat a static Bogush.

Time appeared to stand still as the Dynamo defenders looked for offside, and that gave Milito all the time in the world to steady himself before slotting home.

Then, in the dying seconds, Bogush committed an inexplicable howler as he let a strike from Sulley Muntari squirm under his body and into the path of Milito, who cut the ball back to Sneijder sliding in.

His finish gave Inter a remarkable 2-1 victory which sends the Nerazzuri to the summit of a tight Group F.

Liam Graf / Eurosport

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  1. Eto'o i can't wait to see u tell Guardiola that­ he made a huge mistake by letting u go. U no what i­ mean lol. Give us the goals at camp nou so that in the­ end barca will be leaking their wounds come tuesday.­ Allez Eto'o, allez Inter!

    From Paul, on Sat 21 Nov 11:01AM

  2. i think what getachew44 have written is the best, after­ it is easy to see a good and quality coach like jose­ mourinho,he is a very clever coach. i think he is the­ best coach in the world, i think the amatuer couch­ josepi­ guardiola made a mess of himseif trying to­ prove what is good to be bad,he betraye most people­ love for barca by selling the only GOD of barca, samuel­ eto for a lanky zlatan ibrahimovic. not only that is­ mode of footbal is wrong, no good tactics. Unlike his­ compatriot jose mourinho even when inter was loosing he­ still summon courage and now from zero to hero level,­ that is the spirit of the game football. common ­ guardiola plz wake up now b4 it wil be too late. from­ okoro emmanuel

    From obruche, on Thu 5 Nov 9:43AM

  3. that is the different between the professional coach­ jose morinho and the amatuer couch josepi­ guardiola
    guardiola bought shigrinsky with 25mil euro­ while jose bought lucio with 12mil euro
    guardiola­ brought ibra while jose got eto'o and 45 mil which­ they use to buy milito with 25 and snjider with­ 20mil
    guardiola bought maxwel with 7 mil euro while­ jose bought motta
    the result guardiola distroy a­ winning team while jose built a winning team
    inter the­ 1st in the group while barca the 3rd
    inter leading­ calcio (serie a) with 7 point different while barca is­ very close even to the 4th valencia which is only 4­ points far, with sevilla only 3 points far and with­ real madrid one point behind
    so we might see barca­ draged to the 4th in la liga table in the coming­ weeks
    coz the barca is struggling in last 6 matches
    1 ­ won 1-0 on weak team like almeria in camp nou,,, even­ almeria were close to get draw
    2 2-0 on dinamo kiev­ with the help on the ref by canceling a clear goal from­ dinamo
    3 0-0 draw with valecia that play without­ villa, vicenti, juaquen, zigic and fernandez,,,, also­ barca was lucky to get draw
    4 lost to rubin kazan in­ their soil at camp nou
    5 draw with weak team like­ osasona
    6 now they draw again with ruben kazan­ 0-0
    barca make big mistake and now they are paying cash

    From getachew44, on Thu 5 Nov 8:55AM

  4. E'TO,MILITO,MUNTARI,WESLEY we are watching you, we­ know the group is not easy but you can do it up to not­ only merly the knock out stage but immerging champion­ of the year.we are behind inter,inter is gaining huge­ supporters every minute and ready to see we beat Barca­ on 24/11specially.

    From ChristopherG, on Thu 5 Nov 4:00AM

  5. Funny thing is it's easier to beat Barca in Camp­ Nou than anywhere else.

    Just check the STATS -­ Liverpool, Man City, Rubin, etc. ETO'O may­ eventually make

    PEP pay

    From Segun, on Thu 5 Nov 3:54AM

  6. i love you so muchhhhhhhhhhh jose

    From rebecca, on Thu 5 Nov 3:52AM

  7. GREAT TO SEE INTER MOVING FROM BOTTOM TO TOP OF THE­ GROUP IN 5 MINUTES!!
    ALL THE WAY WITH JOSE!!

    From Vítor, on Thu 5 Nov 2:32AM

  8. Recently, I came across an age-gap site called ~~~­­ Agegapmingle--C O M ~~~ It's a nice and free place­­ for Younger Women and Older Men, or Older Women and­­ Younger Men, to interact with each other. Age gap is­­ not problem there. You may check out or tell your­­ friends.

    From criketsucks, on Thu 5 Nov 12:35AM

  9. Bob, why do you need a draw at Camp Nou? Haven't­ Inter drawn enough games already? Inter may be top but­ all 4 teams still have a solid chance of going through.­ Inter should be looking to beat Barca-Rubin Kazan did­ it. If Inter Milan underestimates Rubin, it'd be­ their undoing. Great game today Inter but much work­ ahead.

    From eza, on Thu 5 Nov 12:00AM

  10. all we need is a draw at camp nou and a victory at home­ to Rubin, then we are in the last 16. huh? What about­ mighty BARCA?????? on their way out???? UNBELIEVABLE

    From Bob, on Wed 4 Nov 11:11PM

  11. super jose we still love ya!!!

    From itsme, on Wed 4 Nov 10:53PM

  12. grande cuore

    From Alberto C, on Wed 4 Nov 10:42PM

  13. First

    From SkoolGirlie3906, on Wed 4 Nov 10:23PM
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