slick bayern leave inter reeling published: thursday 28 september 2006, 0.45cet
internazionale milano 0-2 fc bayern münchen
claudio pizarro and lukas podolski scored late on to leave a nine-man inter team at the foot of group b.
by richard aikman from giuseppe meazza
fc bayern münchen scored twice late on to record their first victory away to italian opposition in 18 years and leave fc internazionale milano propping up uefa champions league group b.
late red cards claudio pizarro's 81st-minute opener and lukas podolski's goal in added time moved the german champions clear at the top of the section with maximum points from two games. inter lost their discipline as well as their second successive match, as zlatan ibrahimović and fabio grosso both received late red cards, meaning they will play no part in the nerazzurri's next fixture against fc spartak moskva.
cavalier approach perhaps wary of coach roberto mancini's pre-match instructions for his side not to adopt too cavalier an approach, inter started cagily and their decision to play on the counterattack should have reaped an early reward when, after cutting out a loose pass, dejan stanković released ibrahimović through on goal. to the delight of the bayern supporters behind oliver kahn's goal, however, the sweden forward's final touch took him too close to the keeper who saved bravely at his feet.
césar save bayern carved out a chance of their own midway through the first half. andreas ottl's through-ball found roy makaay who struck a low goal-bound shot from a tight angle which júlio césar kept out with an outstretched leg. ibrahimović began to show signs of frustration after twice being adjudged offside and the no8 followed willy sagnol and ottl into the referee's notebook for a high kick on philipp lahm as the game grew increasingly physical. the 24-year-old responded well, setting his sights just before the break and firing an effort from 20 metres narrowly wide.
loose passing despite inter's greater need for points, bayern looked the team more likely to score after the break and started to string together some sharp one-touch moves. but for some excellent defending from iván córdoba, pizarro would have found his way through on goal, the colombian showing great experience and strength to hold off his fellow south american.
ibrahimović off mancini's rallying cry had been for calm heads but on 58 minutes ibrahimović's frustration boiled over and his high foot on bastian schweinsteiger earned a second yellow card. the setback seemed to rally the italian outfit, however, and two minutes later javier zanetti's blocked shot fell to hernán crespo whose attempt from eight metres was superbly repelled by kahn. the match was finally alive, hasan salihamidžić teeing up makaay to force another stop from césar following a sharp turn and strike.
final flourish pizarro fired another warning in the 77th minute with a header from schweinsteiger's corner but had to wait four more minutes to break the deadlock as he muscled past two defenders and diverted sagnol's quickly-taken free-kick into the net. grosso saw red soon after for raising his arm at sagnol, and bayern again replied in style, podolski pouncing on córdoba's weak back pass before dribbling around césar and blasting in to send the travelling hordes behind that goal into delirium.
