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Adriano hits two as Inter beat 10-man Werder
Brazilian Adriano scored both goals as Inter Milan beat Werder Bremen 2-0 in their opening Champions League Group G match on Tuesday. The German champions were forced to play with 10 men from just the fifth minute after French defender Valerien Ismael was sent off for a "professional foul" inside the area on Adriano.
The Brazilian, who has scored in all four of Inter's competitive games this season, finally made sure of the win in the 89th minute with a powerful drive. Ismael's dismissal was the joint-fastest in Champions League history, equalling the fifth-minute sending off of Newcastle United striker Craig Bellamy against Inter in November 2002. It should have made life easy for Inter but, although they enjoyed plenty of possession and created numerous chances, Roberto Mancini's side suffered some scares and it was not until Adriano's late second that they were able to relax. Much of the credit for Inter's failure to wrap the game up earlier should go to Werder keeper Andreas Reinke who produced some excellent saves as well as his penalty stop. SURPRISE CHANGES Mancini made two surprise changes to his side with Dutch winger Andy van der Meyde coming in on the right flank and Turkish international Emre Belozoglu preferred to Edgar Davids in midfield. Emre, given a role wide on the left, made an instant impact when he threaded the ball through to Adriano and Ismael clipped the heels of the big Brazilian. Slovak referee Lubos Michel pointed to the spot and sent off the Frenchman. Reinke did superbly to block Vieri's penalty with his legs and keep his side on level terms and he was in action again moments later, racing out to foil Van der Meyde after he had burst into the area from the right. There was nothing Reinke could do, though, about Adriano's penalty in the 34th minute, awarded after he had been brought down by Frank Baumann as he raced on to a pass from Juan Sebastian Veron. Vieri then went close to making amends for his earlier miss with a smart shot from a Van der Meyde cross bringing Reinke into action again. But Werder were in no mood to roll over and came within a whisker of an equaliser on the stroke of halftime when Tim Borowski's rifled effort flew just wide. There was a similar pattern to the game after the break as Reinke produced a superb stop to keep out a close-range strike from Vieri and another effort from the impressive Van der Meyde. Having failed to put the game beyond the Germans, Inter suffered a late scare when Werder substitute Miroslav Klose found space in the area but keeper Francesco Toldo reacted well. Adriano then wrapped up the win when he took a sweeping pass from Veron on his chest and then used precision and power to beat Reinke with a low 18-metre drive. |
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