Serie A - Ibrahimovic double floors Fiorentina

Eurosport - Mon, 16 Mar 08:28:00 2009

A brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Internazionale a 2-0 win over Fiorentina in Serie A at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Inter - 0

Jose Mourinho's side moved seven points clear of second-placed Juventus with their sixth win in seven league games.

Inter had their keeper Julio Cesar to thank early on for a fine point-blank save from Adrian Mutu, who shot from inside the area after his strike partner Alberto Gilardino teed him up in the 10th minute.

Having been shocked into action, a minute later the home side went straight up to the other end and scored as Ibrahimovic pounced on a loose ball inside the box with Sebastien Frey stranded out of his goal.

Gilardino almost equalised with an audacious flick over Julio Cesar from Juan Vargas's left-footed cross, with the keeper scrambling desperately back onto his line to tip over five minutes before half-time.

The second half was a scrappy affair, but Davide Santon had a glorious opportunity to double Inter's lead late on following a delightful one-two with Ibrahimovic on the edge of the box, but Frey made a smart stop with his legs to deny him.

But on the stroke of full-time, Ibrahimovic unleashed an emphatic strike from a free-kick which flew in off the crossbar to beat Frey and give the scoreline a more convincing look.

Earlier, Filippo Inzaghi inspired Milan to a 5-1 thrashing of Siena at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Evergreen striker Inzaghi netted his 300th career goal when he struck twice, while Alexandre Pato also scored a brace after Andrea Pirlo's sixth-minute penalty.

The 35-year-old tapped in David Beckham's corner to make it 2-0 at the end of the first half and slid home a trademark finish to put the visitors 4-1 up midway through the second period and bring up the 300.

Substitute Kaka returned from a month out with a foot injury but had to go off with an ankle problem for third-placed Milan, who lie nine points behind Inter.

But in the picturesque Tuscan city of Siena it was Inzaghi's day as the 35-year-old took his tally to five goals in his last two matches.

Milan have had to reassess their aims for this season having dropped out of the title race and been beaten in both the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti has set his side's sights on third place and an automatic place in next season's Champions League group stages.

In Genoa, Roma were looking to bounce back from their draining Champions League exit in midweek and they got off to a flying start against Sampdoria as Max Tonetto crossed for Julio Baptista to slide the ball home at the back post on seven minutes.

But Antonio Cassano twisted and turned on the left before crossing for Giampaolo Pazzini to head home the first of his two goals.

Roma goalkeeper Doni spilled a shot from Lithuanian Marius Stankevicius presenting Pazzini with an open goal.

But Baptista equalised from the spot after Marco Padalino was penalised for fouling Tonetto.

Former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni began his career on the Napoli bench with a 1-1 draw at rock bottom Reggina, meaning Napoli still have not won since early January.

Reuters

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  1. forza inter

    From marjusrafaeli, on Mon 16 Mar 1:51AM
  2. Mourinho is the best coach, no doubts about it!!!

    From zehtrindade, on Mon 16 Mar 12:02AM
  3. Smartiz, I hundred per cent agree!

    From parsnip10, on Sun 15 Mar 8:20PM
  4. Inzaghi==== one of the best players in AC Milan­ history!!!!

    From smartiz326, on Sun 15 Mar 7:07PM
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