Milan: Inter took a firm stranglehold on Champions League Group B after disposing of French champions Lille 2-1 at San Siro.
A first-half header from Walter Samuel opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play, before Diego Milito, who had previously missed three simple opportunities, finally got on the score sheet after superb work by the evergreen Javier Zanetti on 65 minutes. A mix up late on presented Tulio de Melo with a simple chance to get Lille back into the match, which the Brazilian took coolly.
Lille had been exposed in the first leg as being naive, and within 100 seconds of kick off nearly conceded a soft goal. Diego Milito, however, contrived to float the ball against the bar having been released by a seemingly simple long, straight pass.
Claudio Ranieri's side belied their poor league form in the opening five minutes but soon found themselves on the back foot, though only a long-range strike from Benoit Pedretti had troubled their goal the Serie A side grabbed the lead against the run of play.
A Mauro Zarate shot was fumbled indecisively wide by Mickael Landreau, and from the resultant corner Samuel rose imperiously to head easily into the corner of the net.
The French club would never again gain the kind of control on the match they previously enjoyed, with Eden Hazard well stifled by the home midfield. Nevertheless, the Belgian was able to wriggle free at the edge of the box to drive in a shot that was palmed clear by Luca Castellazzi. Lille’s only other meaningful effort came from Moussa Sow, but this was skewed well wide from range.
Inter had rarely threatened in the opening period, though they had rarely looked anything but comfortable either. Within seconds of the beginning of the second half, they might have been even further clear by the profligate Milito, who blasted high over the top when presented with a simple chance by Dejan Stankovic after Lille made a terrible mess of their offside trap from a free kick.
The Argentine then wasted a three-on-one opportunity, shooting tamely into the arms of Landreau, before tapping home Inter's third after a superb driving run by Zanetti, who was magnificent all evening, set him up on a plate.
This encounter was by no means one-sided, but it took a dreadful error by Thiago Motta on the edge of his box to provide the chance for Tulio to convert, giving the last seven minutes an unexpectedly tense air.
Inter successfully saw the game out, taking them to the cusp of the knockout stages, while for Lille, their Champions League dream is hanging by a thread and anything less than two wins will not be sufficient for Rudi Garcia's side.
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