Serie A - Round-up: Eto'o fires Inter to victory

Eurosport - Sun, 13 Sep 21:30:00 2009

Samuel Eto'o scored a spectacular goal to set Internazionale on their way to a 2-0 win over Parma while Roma came from behind to beat Siena 2-1 in Claudio Ranieri's first match in charge.

FOOTBALL - ETO'O, INTER - 0

Eto'o broke visiting Parma's stubborn resistance when he curled in a right-foot shot in the 71st minute before Diego Milito wrapped up victory with a late strike to give the Serie A champions seven points from three games.

Inter are two points behind three sides: Sampdoria, who maintained their perfect start with a 1-0 win at Atalanta despite Fernando Tissone's red card; Juventus, who won 2-0 at Lazio on Saturday; and Genoa, who thumped Napoli 4-1.

Inter, who thrashed AC Milan 4-0 before the international break, went out to attack at the San Siro, with Wesley Sneijder forcing a good early save from Parma keeper Antonio Mirante.

But Parma frustrated the hosts by defending in numbers and Brazil defender Maicon shouted back angrily when sections of the San Siro crown booed Inter off at the end of the first half.

Jose Mourinho tried to spice things up by bringing on Mario Balotelli to give his side a three-pronged attack alongside Eto'o and Milito.

His entrance briefly added impetus to Inter's attack but Parma seemed to be getting the measure of them when Eto'o's flash of brilliance broke the deadlock.

A powerful 89th-minute free kick by John Arne Riise gave Roma their first points of the season after defeats by Juventus and Genoa led to Luciano Spalletti quitting.

They looked in trouble after Massimo Maccarone made Philippe Mexes dizzy with fine dribbling before rifling a left-foot shot into the top corner to give Siena the lead in the 26th minute.

But Mexes brought the visitors back into it with a 73rd-minute equaliser and their cause was helped when Siena midfielder Paul Codrea was sent off minutes later for a second yellow card.

"The important thing is to have won," former Chelsea and Juve boss Ranieri said.

"We suffered against a really good Siena side who played on the counter-attack and caused us trouble, but it went well in the end.

"Now this group must improve and do what it used to do a few months ago. The players need to find the confidence and tranquillity that only comes from winning."

Daniele Mannini finished off a counter-attack in the 63rd minute in Bergamo to earn Sampdoria a share of top spot with Juve.

Samp's city rivals Genoa joined them at the summit with a 4-1 thrashing of Napoli in a thrilling match that saw three players sent off.

Napoli took the lead through Marek Hamsik with four minutes left of the first half, but the home side equalised from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time and added three more goals in a dominant second-half performance.

Fiorentina are level on points with Inter after Alberto Gilardino's soaring header in the 55th gave them a 1-0 victory over Cagliari.

Antonio Di Natale scored a hat-trick in Udinese's 4-2 win over Catania and Palermo drew 1-1 at home with Bari in a match which started over 20 minutes late because of heavy rain showers.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 19 of 19

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  1. A stinking skunk calling someone else a monkey.­ Stinker......

    From boye b, on Tue 15 Sep 12:06PM

  2. monkey..

    From firdaus, on Tue 15 Sep 8:50AM

  3. I will support inter and barcelona this season, just­ because Eto plays there now, good for me cos i would­ not have to be dissapointed if Inter beats Barca, for­ example, esp if Eto scores, in my mind, he will be a­ Barca player FOR EVER..................

    From boye b, on Mon 14 Sep 8:07PM

  4. King Maurihno..Etoo will make you proud this season­ come wednesday.Etoo will drown BARCA on wednesday and­ he will be crowned king by PEP.MAURIHNO AND ETOO ARE­ BETTER PLAYERS THAN PEP.PEP IS AN EMPTY VESSEL AND ETOO­ WILL SHOW THAT THIS WEEK.
    BRAVOOOOO KING ETOO AND­ BOSS SIR MMMMAAAUURRIHHNNOO
    SIAKA

    From CHIEF, on Mon 14 Sep 1:09PM

  5. ETOOO...... YOU ARE THE GREATEST OF ALL THE STRIKERS IN­ THE WORLD TODAY.IF YOU CAME FROM SOUTH AMERICA OR­ EUROPE YOU WOULD WIN THE BALLON D'OR THIS­ YEAR
    SHUNEH

    From CHIEF, on Mon 14 Sep 1:00PM

  6. gd point milter except that it was ibra for eto...plus­ 40 mill plus hleb on loan

    From tyson82003, on Mon 14 Sep 7:56AM

  7. Mourinho's been accused of having forgotten Ibra. I­ can only think of two reasons, despite being a­ fantastic striker, Ibra didn't help the team­ defend. Two, like Half a Brain said, on the day of the­ big games, he goes looking for pop corn and a movie­ instead of goals.

    Eto'o scores, works hard to­ defend and shows up big time for the big games.

    From Second S, on Mon 14 Sep 7:24AM

  8. ya Etoo is superb, no doubt. i will still support Etoo­ (not inter) n Barca.. hope he score more than 25 in­ serie A..

    From gorka, on Mon 14 Sep 1:48AM

  9. barca are such idiots...ibrahimovic for eto???­ c'mon who got the short end of the stick huh??­

    the biggest winners out of this trade: real madrid! ­ HALA MADRID!!

    From milton, on Mon 14 Sep 12:52AM

  10. Eto'o you have made me once again speechless.What­ do I really need to say that will best describe the­ class of player you are.
    Bravo to­ Eto'O,Drogba,Adebayor,Niang etc for making Africa­ proud.
    We love you all and just keep on delivering the­ goals for your clubs and country.

    From BRITISH GUY, on Sun 13 Sep 11:16PM

  11. Bravooooooooooo.Eto'o .....you so good and Jose is­ a top class coach after Sir Alex....we are behind you­ to bring the champions league to milan...Eto'o is­ the new George Weah of Milan...

    From Elvis, on Sun 13 Sep 10:50PM

  12. The problem with Abra is in big games. He is good­ against average and ok teams but he falters every time­ the game is very important. Eto is a scoring machine,­ game in game out. He plays good and not only scores but­ plays with his team mated setting up goals and playing­ without the ball. In a game between Baca and Real, Eto­ will be missed.. for sure..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 13 Sep 10:36PM

  13. @ lionhell, am glad you agree he's better than­ ibra, check out his in-form seasons and youll see that­ he exceeds the 35 goals a season mark, steadily...

    From boye b, on Sun 13 Sep 9:56PM

  14. The big african strikers were on target this weekend -­ Drogba, Adebayor, Eto'o, Niang, follow the African­ perspective @ africaplays.come.

    From Second S, on Sun 13 Sep 9:34PM

  15. boye ... eto'o is a world class striker i agree­ with you, and i think he is better and better suited­ for barca than ibrahimovic, they should have kept him,­ but dont exagerate... he can guarantee AT LEAST 35­ goals ??? lol this is a bit of an abusive number.

    From lionhell, on Sun 13 Sep 9:25PM

  16. Bravo Inter!!.... Eto'o is better than ibra.....

    From ***yadi***, on Sun 13 Sep 8:29PM

  17. I cannot believe for the life of me why Barcelona let­ Eto go, he is the best striker in the world in my­ opinion. When treated right, and free of injury, you­ can be guaranteed of at least 35 goal a season in all­ competitions. He and Messi were 70% responsible for­ Barca's feat last season. Unbelievable that he was­ sold.

    From boye b, on Sun 13 Sep 7:46PM

  18. Barcalona got there Eyes ripped out with the deal that­ saw Et'o join Inter,

    From Tom M, on Sun 13 Sep 7:12PM

  19. ALL THE WAY WITH JOSE!!

    From Vítor, on Sun 13 Sep 6:53PM
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