Milan: Inter Milan beat Cesena 3-2 in the Serie A on Wednesday and continued its 100 percent record under Leonardo.
Inter quickly went into a 2-0 lead through Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito, but Erjon Bogdani and Emanuele Giaccherini brought Cesena level before Christian Chivu scored just before halftime.
After the break, goalkeepers Luca Castellazzi and Francesco Antonioli took turns to star.
Giaccherini was later sent off for two bookings.
"We started excellently, but we have to give credit to Cesena for coming back from two goals down," Leonardo said. "The ball pinged around a lot out there, but we worked extremely hard and deserved the win."
Leonardo, in charge since Christmas Eve, has led Inter to five straight wins and fourth in the standings, six points behind leader AC Milan with a game in hand.
In the Italian Cup, Roma beat city rival Lazio 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals and will be joined by Sampdoria, which required penalties to overcome Udinese.
At the San Siro, Inter took the lead in the 14th. Eto'o cut in from the left, played a return pass with Milito and shot in from right of the box.
Eto'o then turned creator a minute later. He picked out Goran Pandev in the area and Pandev squared across the face of goal for Milito to tap in.
Cesena didn't give up and Bogdani pulled a goal back in the 23rd. Luca Ceccarelli chipped into the striker and Bogdani controlled the ball on his chest, turned, and shot low into the corner of the goal.
Emanuele Giaccherini soon brought Cesena level. Luis Jiminez played the ball over the Inter defense and Giaccherini ran on and volleyed past Castellazzi.
"We scored two quick goals, but we weren't mentally ready in defense," Leonardo said. "We hadn't had anything to do, so weren't organized and suddenly we have conceded a goal. But I'm pleased with how our defense improved later on."
Chivu nearly rounded off a flowing move in the 40th, but Giuseppe Colucci headed the Romanian's chip off the line.
He found the target just before the break though, when he headed in Maicon's cross at the near post.
In the second half Eto'o hit the bar after Esteban Cambiasso pulled the ball back from the line, and later Maicon's low shot was held by Antonioli.
Giaccherini was sent off for a second yellow card, and in the 80th Igor Budan's snap shot was held by Castellazzi.
Roma and Lazio played out a fiery first half in which Lazio's Libor Kovak went the closest of either side to scoring.
After halftime Marco Borriello put Roma into the lead with a penalty after Stephan Lichtsteiner handled the ball.
Lazio didn't have to wait long to draw level though, when Hernanes scored a penalty of his own after Juan brought down Mauro Zarate.
Simplicio scored in the 76th. Jeremy Menez ran at the Lazio defense, and while he was stopped the ball ran to the Brazilian and he calmly slotted it past Tommaso Berni.
"We were good in the second half, but for sure Lazio was better in the first," Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said. "As for Jeremy, he is in great form for us and made the difference tonight."
Federico Marcheda opened the scoring for Sampdoria when he went past Zapata and shot home his first goal since joining on loan from Manchester United.
Udinese drew level when Mauricio Isla scored in the last minute to force extra time.
German Denis put Udinese into the lead in the 91st, before Giampaolo Pazzini drew the hosts level in the 108th with a penalty.
Both sides scored four and missed one of their penalty kicks to lead to a sudden death shootout.
Angelo Da Costa saved Isla's penalty before Fernando Tissone struck home the winner for Sampdoria.
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