Inter 1-0 Lazio: Samuel Eto'o Winner Puts The Skids On Lazio

Serie A Standings/Results

Samuel Eto'o scored the final Serie A goal of 2009 to give Inter a 1-0 victory of Lazio at a freezing cold San Siro.

The summer buy from Barcelona struck at the second attempt after his header had been blocked by Lazio keeper Fernando Muslera  in the 14th minute to settle a poor final game of the calendar year.

Despite visible frost on the San Siro turf, the game got the go ahead during Sunday afternoon. But with the temperature already at -8c come kick-off it was always going to be a difficult night for the players, not to mention those fans who had braved the cold to attend.

The first man to show signs of the cold having an effect was Lazio keeper Fernando Muslera when he fumbled an optimistic 20-yard effort from Thiago Motta inside the first five minutes, but the Biancocelesti were able to scramble the loose ball clear. Douglas Maicon then went down under the slightest of challenges from Stefan Radu in the Lazio area, but referee Carmine Russo rightly told the Brazilian to get to his feet.

On 12 minutes Aleksandar Kolarov created the away side's first chance when he forced his way between Douglas Maicon and Dejan Stankovic to free himself for a trademark left-foot bullet shot, which Julio Cesar could only parry wide.

But from the resulting corner Inter were able to break forward and open the scoring. Stankovic was set free down the right and his delicate cross met the head of Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroonian's weak effort was only parried by Muslera, and the free ball broke kindly for Eto'o, who was presented with the formality of side-footing home with his right foot from six yards.

Inter then showed a calm which suggested a difficult road back for Lazio, but they were knocked out of their stride slightly as Sulley Ali Muntari pulled a hamstring when attempting an extravagant back heel. After a period of treatment, the Ghanaian had to be replaced by Patrick Vieira. Soon after, Lucio was also tended to by the home physios when he picked up a knock to his knee in a challenge which brought a yellow card for Roberto Baronio.

Lazio's first real opportunity to equalise came on 35 minutes when Roberto Baronio's free kick was handled in the area by Maicon, but as the referee waved play-on, the ball broke for Mourad Meghni, who could only shoot wide with his left foot as Julio Cesar charged out to narrow the angle.

As the pace started to increase, Inter had a couple of chances to extend their lead before the interval. First, Esteban Cambiasso found himself in space on the right 12 yards from goal, but his shot was deflected favorably for Muslera. And within seconds Milito turned well down the left to give himself a sight of goal, but he sent a drive just wide of the far post as Muslera scrambled across.

Inter struck lucky in the dying moments of the opening period as Kolarov's attempted shot fell for Tommaso Rocchi, whose neat first touch seemed set to give him a shooting chance eight yards from goal, but Ivan Cordoba's trailing leg knocked it out of Rocchi's stride, allowing the Colombian time to clear the danger and keep the Nerazzurri ahead come the interval.

A disappointing start to the second half was punctuated by a half-chance for Eto'o, who drove just wide, and a lovely left foot strike by Kolarov, which had Julio Cesar sprawling as it swung back towards the far post.

At the three-quarter point Guglielmo Stendardo earned a yellow card for bringing down Maicon as the Brazilian charged deep into Lazio territory and Cambiasso curled his left-footed free kick just wide of the near post with Muslera scrambling to cover.

Milito then wasted an opportunity when trying to cut back inside Radu when he seemed to have a shooting chance and within minutes he was appealing in vain for a penalty after going to ground under another Radu challenge.

The game continued to frustrate as it reached its latter stages. Free kicks and substitutions became the order of the day as the already-sparse crowd began to filter out early. Inter held on to extend their lead in Serie A to eight points over the Christmas break, but their fans have had far warmer and more memorable experiences than this in 2009.

Kris Voakes, Goal.com

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