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Champions League: Inter rally to beat Villarreal 2-1
Inter Milan and AC Milan came away from the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals with positive results.
Inter Milan and AC Milan came away from the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals with positive results.
Inter rallied to beat visiting Villarreal 2-1, and AC Milan held host Lyon to a 0-0 draw. The second leg matches are scheduled for Tuesday.
Obafemi Martins and Adriano scored a goal each for Inter, which last won the European Cup in 1965.
Martins scored the winning goal in the 54th minute after Dejan Stankovic controlled the ball nicely and sent a cross into the middle of the area that the Nigerian kicked into the net despite being off balance.
"We played very, very well the first 25 minutes of the second half and maybe we paid for that with some fatigue in the final quarter hour," Inter coach Robert Mancini said.
Adriano scored Inter's first goal in the seventh minute, and Stankovic again made the final pass. The Serbia-Montenegro international, filling in for Luis Figo on the right wing, sent a ball in front of the net that Villarreal defender Juan Manuel Pena failed to clear.
In the first minute, Jose Mari Romero's shot was saved by Inter goalkeeper Francesco Toldo, but the rebound went to Diego Forlan, who scored the opening goal and gave the visitors an early lead.
Mancini had indicated he might not start Adriano due to the forward's poor form - he entered with only three goals this year in all competitions, including one penalty.
