Internazionale 1-0 CSKA Moscow

Posted Thursday, April 01, 2010 by theguardian.com

Diego Milito gives Inter slim advantage against CSKA in quarter-final

Internazionale 1-0 CSKA Moscow
Internazionale's Diego Milito, left, scores during his side's 1-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against CSKA Moscow.

Internazionale will take a slender one-goal advantage into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash with CSKA Moscow next week after Diego Milito earned them a 1-0 win at San Siro.

José Mourinho's side took over an hour to get warmed up, but they were then guilty of wasting a hatful of chances to settle this tie after Milito's strike in the 65th minute. Nevertheless, Inter will still fancy their chances of finishing off the job in the Russian capital next week after keeping a clean sheet at home.

Mourinho had warned on the eve of the game that it was not likely to be much of a spectacle and he was proved right for the first 45 minutes. Inter struggled to find a way through a well organised block of CSKA Moscow players, who waited patiently for their chance to break with the lively Pavel Mamaev and Milos Krasic looking dangerous on the ball.

A mazy run from Mamaev, who beat both Dejan Stankovic and Walter Samuel, was ended by Marco Materazzi, who had been preferred in the Inter defence over Iván Córdoba to replace the suspended Lúcio. Inter then started to create a few chances with Walter Sneijder's shot from a free-kick punched clear by Igor Akinfeev to Stankovic, who shot wide from 20 yards.

Sergei Ignashevich's direct free-kick at the other end was easy for Júlio César before Goran Pandev came the closest to opening the deadlock in the first half with a 25-yard shot which missed the crossbar by a matter of inches.

Samuel Eto'o had a few half chances for the Nerazzurri, but Akinfeev's goal was rarely under any real threat.

CSKA made a bright start to the second half with Mamaev shooting just over the crossbar from 25 yards and then Aleksei Berezutski's dangerous low cross was put behind for a corner by Materazzi. In the 55th minute, Evgeni Aldonin's 20-yard shot swirled in the air, forcing Júlio César to tip it over the crossbar.

That effort seemed to spark Inter back into life and they should have gone ahead on the hour mark when Esteban Cambiasso threaded the ball through to Stankovic, but he never really gained full control of it and could only strike a weak shot straight into Akinfeev's arms

Four minutes later, Pandev exchanged passes with Sneijder before placing his left-footed shot towards the far corner where it was pushed away by Akinfeev.

Eto'o's shot in the 55th minute was saved on the line by the CSKA goalkeeper, but he was unable to get to Milito's effort in the same minute as the Argentinian put the home side ahead with a low shot from just outside the penalty area.

Inter searched for a second with Pandev coming within inches of finding it in the 72nd minute. He did all of the hard work in dribbling the ball past Akinfeev after being sent through by Milito, but Berezutski came in around the back to clear his shot off the goalline with a desperate lunge.

Sneijder chose the wrong option as he shot into the side-netting in the 84th minute before Cambiasso's shot was punched out by Akinfeev, who then somehow managed to lift Stankovic's follow-up shot over the crossbar.

Tomas Necid then through away the chance to score an away goal when he was played in by a neat lob from Deividas Semberas, but he never looked confident with only Júlio César to beat and the Inter goalkeeper dived onto the ball to preserve a clean sheet which enhances Inter's chances of reaching the semi-finals.