New Inter strike pairing Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito scored the goals as the Italian champions beat Parma 2-0 at the San Siro on Sunday to move up to fourth in Serie A.
Eto’o and Milito were bought by coach Jose Mourinho to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic and they repaid his faith by scoring their second goals in three matches.
However, Inter toiled for long periods and were unconvincing in the first half.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The only significant chance they fashioned in the opening half came when Wesley Sneijder forced Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante into a fine save.
Mourinho was clearly unhappy with what he saw and he wasted little time in shaking things up, throwing on striker Mario Balotelli for midfielder Thiago Motta at half-time and switching from a 4-4-2 formation to 4-3-3.
That move almost paid instant dividends as Balotelli twice came close to giving the hosts the lead in the first five minutes of the second period.
Inter got the breakthrough their improved second half performance deserved when Eto’o curled a delightful shot from just outside the box over Mirante on 71 minutes.
The clincher came two minutes from time when a long ball from Balotelli found Milito unmarked in the area. The Argentine took a touch and poked the ball beyond Mirante’s despairing dive in one movement.
Claudio Ranieri began his AS Roma career with a 2-1 victory at 10-man Siena thanks to a late free-kick from John Arne Riise.
Genoa went top of the table after a 4-1 win over Napoli in a game in which both teams had a player sent off in the first half.
Juventus are second following their 2-0 win at Lazio on Saturday while Sampdoria joined the top two on three wins out of three after Daniele Mannini scored the winner in a 1-0 success at Atalanta.
The comeback of the day went to Udinese as they overturned a 2-1 half-time deficit to beat Catania 4-2.
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