Inter beat CSKA Moscow 1-0
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Diego Milito scored the lone goal to give Inter Milan a 1-0 win at home against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League quarterfinals first leg on Wednesday.
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Diego Milito scored the lone goal to give Inter Milan a 1-0 win at home against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League quarterfinals first leg on Wednesday. |
Milito struck in the 65th minute after linking up with midfielder Wesley Sneijder, but Inter missed chances to score either side of the goal while dominating the game.
Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev kept his side in the match with crucial saves and while his opposite Julio Cesar had little to do until a late effort to deny Moscow striker Tomas Necid's shot.
Inter took control early, but Samuel Eto'o and Sneijder both put efforts wide from close range.
Inter striker Goran Pandev came closest to opening the scoring in the first half when he shot narrowly over the bar from long range.
Cesar came to Inter's rescue 10 minutes into the second half. Evgeny Aldonin hit a curling, long-range shot and the keeper had to react quickly to push the ball over the bar.
Five minutes later, Dejan Stankovic squandered a great opportunity. Esteban Cambiasso poked to ball to Stankovic, but he was unable to control it and prodded the ball into Akinfeev's grasp.
Pandev and Eto'o were then denied a goal by desperate saves from Akinfeev, before Milito ended the deadlock. Milito controlled Sneijder's pass on the edge of the area, turned quickly, and shot into the corner of the goal.
Pandev should have doubled the lead in the 71st. He rounded Akinfeev, but Aleksei Berezutski cleared his shot off the line.
Both teams wore black armbands in tribute to the victims of two sets of bomb attacks that rocked Russia this week.
The second leg will be on April 6 in Moscow.
