Inter fought back from a Luis Muriel goal to come out 4-1 winners against Lecce, with goals from Giampaolo Pazzini, Esteban Cambiasso and Riccardo Alvarez, at the San Siro.
It took a while for either side to make any significant chance at goal as Thiago Motta sore his header go wide. But it was Lecce who shocked the fans as Luis Muriel’s solo effort put the vistors in the lead. He sprung the offside trap, cut back past Lucio and Douglas Maicon to beat Julio Cesar at the near post.
The Nerazzurri tried with all their might to pull one back, seeing them incredibly hit the cross-bar four times before finding the equaliser.
Pazzini flicked the ball into the near post from a corner cross by Douglas Maicon to put both teams level. He should have added a second before the break but he shockingly missed the target from a great Yuto Nagatomo cross.
The restart saw both coaches make changes as Inter has Cambiasso and Diego Milito were brought on for Diego Forlan and Luca Faraoni, while Serse Cosmi opted to bring on Ignazio Piatti in place of Ricardo Oliviera.
The change proved effective as it took just Inter 3 minutes to take the lead. Alavarez slotted through the ball to Milito, who was hanging on the edge of the defensive line. The Argentine pounced and slotted it with ease passed Gabrieli.
The second goal for the Nerazzurri seemed to spur some life into them as they came close to a third on several occasion. Pazzini broke free of his markers and ran into the box but his shot launched itself like a rocket and directed itself into the Curva Sud.
Julio Cesar was called into action when Daniele Corvia found himself unmarked just inside the box. The striker unleashed a powerful shot but Cesar did well to keep a hold of it, while moments later Davide Di Michele’s shot was plucked out of the air by Cesar.
Sixty-nine minutes in Corvia was found shoot towards the stars again, as he was one-on-one with Inter’s ‘keeper, failing to capatilise on Juan Cuardrado’s pass.
But it was Inter who put it beyond a doubt when Cambiasso did well to squeeze the ball inside the post after a great run and pass by Yuto Nagatomo. Ten minutes later Alvarez netted a fourth when he drove a Nagatomo cross, the Japanese proving to be decisive in this encounter.
The fourth goal saw the tempers reach boiling point as Douglas Maicon was booked along with Lecce’s Christian Pasquato in quick succession, but the game was to end 4-1 to Inter.