Inzaghi opens with Milan win; Inter's Vidic sent off

Filippo Inzaghi got his tenure as AC Milan coach off to the best possible start with a scintillating 3-1 victory over Lazio at the San Siro on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Nemanja Vidic was sent off on his debut for Inter Milan in its 0-0 draw at Torino.

New Rossoneri signing Fernando Torres was in the stands alongside president Silvio Berlusconi and saw goals from Keisuke Honda, Sulley Muntari and a Jeremy Menez penalty give Inzaghi's men three well-earned points.

"Today we won but we mustn't delude ourselves," Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.

"For the first hour we played a near perfect game, then we struggled a bit against Lazio, who I think will be the surprise team this season.

"We have created a good group here, which makes me happy. Even if we lose a few games, it will be against teams who are stronger, not those who have more desire."

Initially, Milan looked nervous in defense with Lazio keen to exploit centerback Daniele Bonera, who had lined up in the leftback position, but it wasn't long before any trepidation was extinguished, as Milan opened the scoring after just seven minutes.

Stephan El Shaarawy latched onto a hopeful long ball on the left, rode the challenge of Stefan de Vrij, before sliding the ball to the in-rushing Honda on the right, who put it through the legs of Etrit Berisha.

In an opening period, with little in the way of goalmouth action, Lazio's only meaningful chance came midway through the half as Miroslav Klose got in behind the Milan defense down the right, but his cross deflected off Cristian Zapata only to be easily gathered by goalkeeper Diego Lopez.

Ten minutes after the restart, Milan doubled its advantage against the run of play. A simple cross from Ignazio Abate, on the right, bounced in the six-yard area, inviting the unmarked Muntari to poke it home.

Then, just after the hour mark, de Vrij brought down Menez in the area with the slightest of touches and the Frenchman stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and fired low into the goalkeeper's right-hand corner.

Meanwhile, Vidic was having a nightmare in Turin.

He gave away a penalty midway through the first half after pulling down Omar El Kaddouri but Samir Handanovic saved Marcelo Larrondo's resulting spot kick.

Nevertheless, Vidic's debut disaster was compounded as he received a 90th-minute red card.

(China Daily 09/02/2014 page23)