Inter Milan hit four past AS Bari
Defending Serie A champions overcame AS Bari in a resounding 4–0 victory on Wednesday evening.
Rafael Benitez's side claimed their third victory this season after strikers Diego Milito and Samuel Eto'o each scored two goals, making short work of Bari at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
"We played a good match, other than in the opening few minutes, when Bari could have scored," the Spanish manager told Inter Channel after the victory. "The side played with lots of intensity, and had
the right mentality going into the match. The quality of the team came through this evening."
How it happened
Bari came close after only 17 seconds, when Sergio Almiron's first-time strike from the edge of the box thumped against Julio Cesar's left post and bounced back into play.
Eto'o, who had an outstanding game for Inter, beat Massimo Donati and let a right-footed shot fly just wide of the far post on 13 minutes.
In the 21st minute, Wesley Sneijder combined with Esteban Cambiasso to find Milito, whose long-range effort flew high of the goal.
Five minutes later, the Argentinian avenged his miss by scoring a header from close range. Eto'o cut around the Bari defence on the left side of the penalty area before picking out Milito right in front
of the goal, where he could not miss.
Eto'o had a spectacular lob drift wide just before half-time, as the Cameroonian looked eager to get on the scoresheet himself.
Two penalties for Eto'o
Three minutes into the second half, Sneijder twisted and turned on the left flank, sending a cross into the box that Marco Rossi handled rather than headed clear. Eto'o took the resulting penalty, striking
it high into the left of the goal.
Ten minutes later, Lucio da Silva Ferreira was fouled by Bari's Emanuel Rivas, and the former Barcelona striker had the pleasure of converting another penalty. This time, Eto'o waited for Jean-Francois
Gillet to dive to the left before he slotted the ball to the right.
Parisi went close for Bari in the 70th minute, but Cesar was equal to the shot, parrying it over the bar for a corner kick that Bari failed to capitalize on.
Milito, whose has expressed his apparent displeasure at Benitez' arrival at the club, got his second goal of the season in the 86th minute. Played through by Dejan Stankovic in a quick counter attack,
the Argentinian advanced and finished decisively behind Gillet.
Inter now look ahead to Saturday's away fixture against Roma, a a struggling side that has yet to win a game in this year's Serie A.
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