Roma beats Inter Milan 1-0 in Serie A
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Mirko Vucinic's late header goal gave AS Roma its first victory of the season by 1-0 over Inter Milan in the Serie A yesterday.
The loss was Inter's first in the league under coach Rafael Benitez. Inter held a provisional one-point lead in the standings but could be overtaken today by either Chievo Verona or Brescia.
"We've beaten an excellent team," Vucinic said. "If we knew what was missing up till now we would have won two, three games ago. We know we are a good team, we are just getting used to each other."
Meanwhile, AC Milan won for only the second time in five league matches when it beat Genoa 1-0.
Roma and Inter appeared to be drifting to a 0-0 finish until Daniele De Rossi swung over a cross and Vucinic dived ahead of Lucio to plant his header low past Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar after 90 minutes.
"It is disappointing because we let De Rossi cross and then let Vucinic attack the ball," Benitez said. "We had 15 shots on goal, but were unable to get a goal.
"It isn't easy when you play lots of games so close together and the last one (vs. Bari) was at a very high tempo."
In a scrappy match, both sides packed the midfield and frustrated attacks.
Inter midfielder Dejan Stankovic came closest to opening the scoring in the first half when his long-range effort hit the top of the crossbar.
Roma had an excellent chance in the 60th. Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar put the ball down for a free kick but then picked it up again. Referee Emidio Morganti awarded an indirect free kick on the corner of the goal area, but Roma captain Francesco Totti blazed his shot over the bar.
Seven minutes from time, Sulley Muntari set up Samuel Eto'o for a shot that Roma custodian Bogdan Lobont pushed away.
"Beating Inter is always good," Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said. "The guys kept playing till the end and this is the lesson we need to remember, to keep going till the end.
"We had a great chance to score and were able to take that chance to win. The team has quality and tonight we showed it."
AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck in the 49th minute against Genoa. Andrea Pirlo hit a long ball over the Genoa defense and Ibrahimovic squeezed between Dario Dainelli and Andrea Ranocchio to lift the ball over Eduardo.
The goal took Ibrahimovic's tally to four in all competitions since joining on loan from Barcelona.
"It wasn't easy, it was difficult, but we won," Ibrahimovic said. "Today went well, even if we had to work hard at the end."
Genoa had the best chance of the first half when Jose Chico forced Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati into an athletic save to keep out his header.
Substitute Clarence Seedorf went close to doubling the lead in the 81st, but Eduardo was equal to his effort, and Domenico Criscito blocked Robinho's shot from the rebound.
"We have to worry about what we are doing," Ibrahimovic said. "If we keep winning we will get our rewards."
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